Analysis: Fyles obligated to restore integrity by handing over Cabinet documents to ICAC | NT Independent

Analysis: Fyles obligated to restore integrity by handing over Cabinet documents to ICAC

by | Aug 7, 2022 | NT Politics, Opinion | 0 comments

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles seems to have forgotten her duty to Territorians as our leader, and has shown herself to be no better than her scandal-plagued predecessor and friend, both of whom have now blocked access to documents in their possession that may prove corruption at the highest levels of government, in the biggest public cover-up this corrupt jurisdiction has seen to date.

Ms Fyles’ obligations are spelled out for her in the Members’ Code of Conduct, which stipulates that all elected members must act with integrity, accountability, responsibility and with regard to the public interest.

Her decision to follow Michael Gunner’s lead and block the ICAC from accessing a few Cabinet documents that might well prove that Cabinet was lied to by a “public officer” – who the ICAC believes falsified a document – equates to a full-out assault on our democratic institutions.

The leader of the Northern Territory is now covering up a potential crime after being made aware of it by the man in charge of investigating corruption.

It does not get any more troubling than this. This is the single biggest act of ‘cover-up culture’ the Northern Territory has seen to date and it’s happening in front of everyone.

Cabinet is, in this scenario, the alleged victim, having purportedly been duped by a senior public servant, the ICAC has told us, who allegedly doctored an official government document “so as to be misleading as to the true state of affairs”.

So why wouldn’t the Chief Minister want to get to the bottom of this and clear the air?

The only conceivable answer is that she, like Gunner, is covering up for the public official. That she, like Gunner, knows exactly what this is about, and that it is to her benefit to cover it up. That she, like Gunner will be exposed if this were to be investigated.

That means that as of now, all of Cabinet is aiding and protecting potential corruption.

Again, it does not get any more troubling for the integrity of a jurisdiction than this.

Two chief ministers suppressing public information to protect misconduct is not only a bad look for a Labor Government that was elected in 2016 on a platform of restoring integrity to government, it conflicts with the basic duties and functions of elected officials.

As this Labor Government likes to repeatedly remind us, they introduced the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption to facilitate exposing corruption.

Now they’re thumbing their nose at the very institution they brought in to clean up corruption in the NT public service.

This is not even about politics anymore or appearances: This goes to the heart of our democracy.

If we can no longer have faith that corruption in the government is being treated seriously when our elected leaders become aware of it, then we can no longer have faith in our democratic systems or any of the NT’s public institutions.

By not taking action, Natasha Fyles, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, has announced to everyone that the Northern Territory Government is corrupt and will not rid corruption when it is brought to its attention.

In other words, it’s business as usual; but with everything now very much in the open, as clear as a plaque erected in State Square: The ICAC can investigate, so long as politicians and their friends aren’t the subjects of those investigations.

That sounds an awful lot like abuse of office.

Fyles already contradicted herself on Cabinet confidentiality argument: report

The Chief Minister claimed on radio this week that she would not release the documents to the ICAC because there is currently a review of the ICAC Act underway, and that she wanted to wait for the findings of that to see if Greg Shanahan mentions anything about releasing Cabinet documents.

He won’t. But the problem with this argument is that Fyles has already contradicted it, as shown in the ICAC’s latest public report to Parliament, in which it was noted that she had provided the ICAC with information from Cabinet pertaining to an unrelated matter, thereby waiving Cabinet confidentiality for that matter.

If she’s waived it for one matter, why won’t she do it for this one involving Gunner and a “public officer”?

She has shown that she knows Cabinet confidentiality does not bind her from providing documents and that the current review has nothing to do with it.

The convention of cabinet confidentiality was designed to allow elected members to vigorously debate their reasons for making a decision in a reportable but not quite public forum, where their personal arguments would not be broadcast publicly that could have unintended consequences for the immediate decision.

We respect that. That convention was not designed however, to be used to cover up a public servant misleading Cabinet, and Fyles knows that.

She should want to send a strong message to the public service that this type of conduct will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to avoid any repeat.

The release of the requested information in this matter might even shed a little more light on why Gunner decided to “retire” as chief minister so suddenly, followed by the head public servant, and then why he chose to leave NT politics altogether last week, a day before the ICAC’s report was tabled that revealed he unilaterally blocked access to the documents.

Admittedly, releasing the documents to Michael Riches might amount to nothing – in more than a year, he has failed to release anything of value outside of a few vague lines in his most recent “general report” and with each passing week it becomes more and more apparent that the man is not up to the job, despite his inflated ego and all-around arrogance.

The Office of the ICAC has cost us an estimated $23 million since it started its official functions in November 2018, with not much to show after Riches killed the most significant public report the office produced into corruption in this town in the form of the Darwin Turf Club grandstand scandal “public statement”.

All of that aside however, the Chief Minister blatantly covering up a potential crime that her own Cabinet are the victims of, is beyond the sick and corrupt world of NT politics and another new low for the Northern Territory.

There’s a certain bleak irony in the fact that the people most afraid of the Office of the ICAC finding something these days are the people who established it.

For the sake of democracy and her own duty to act ethically and with integrity, the Chief Minister needs to show leadership and handover those documents. Upon taking the top job three months ago, she pledged to put her own mark on the leadership.

We’ve seen no evidence of any diversion from the duck-and-run, cover-up approach Gunner laid out for her to follow.

Just so she remembers, her Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards state:

“Public confidence in the integrity of parliamentary decision-making is essential to an effective democracy. In order to maintain that confidence, it is essential, especially in a relatively small community, for members to avoid any suggestion that they are exploiting their position to gain an improper personal benefit.”

Protecting yourself and your friends from the exposure of potential crimes is as personal a benefit as there is.

Christopher Walsh is the editor of the NT Independent and formerly held roles as senior political reporter at the NT News and investigations producer at ABC Darwin. He is also co-author of Crocs in the Cabinet: An Instruction Manual on How Not to Run a Government.

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