EXCLUSIVE: The animal abuse investigation into Territory Coordinator Stuart Knowles was suddenly terminated by current Mining and Energy CEO Alister Trier while he was CEO of Primary Industries, the NT Independent can reveal, raising concerns about the perceived favour and the potential for coercion of the most powerful public servant in the Northern Territory.

Mr Knowles and Mr Trier have refused to answer questions about Mr Trier’s involvement in the matter, but an independent MLA, the Environment Centre NT and the Opposition said the special consideration given to Mr Knowles to end the investigation without charges raises serious concerns about “integrity, trust and accountability” given Mr Knowles’s powerful role and “the potential for corruption and conflicts”.

Mr Knowles also refused to say if he disclosed the animal abuse matter to the Chief Minister or her staff during the vetting process for appointment to the role, which enshrined Mr Knowles with unprecedented powers to approve major projects, including gas and mining projects, outside of environmental and other safeguard laws.

The NT Independent has seen correspondence that indicates Mr Knowles contacted the director of the animal welfare branch Peter Phillips in late 2015, after four of Mr Knowles’s dogs were seized with severe tick infestations, pleading with the director not to file charges because he was afraid he and his wife, Claire Manalo, would lose their government jobs.

Mr Knowles was on leave from an unspecified role in the Department of Business at the time, while also working for Inpex. Ms Manalo was the acting director of the Motor Vehicle Registry and is currently a senior manager with Power and Water.

At the same time that Mr Knowles’s investigation was ended, a member of the public was convicted for animal cruelty for owning one dog with a severe tick infestation, resulting in a six-month suspended jail sentence and a ban on owning pets.

The correspondence relating to the Knowles matter shows the director of the animal welfare branch relayed Mr Knowles’s concerns to then-CEO of Primary Industries Alister Trier.

Mr Trier then ordered the investigation ended due to his concern about the impact prosecution would have on Mr Knowles and Ms Manalo’s careers in the public service, despite animal welfare officers establishing a strong case for charges and Mr Knowles admitting to the charges of animal cruelty and failing his duty of care to the dogs in a recorded conversation with officers.

Environment Centre director Kirsty Howey said “any kind of alleged intervention in a criminal prosecution” was extremely serious and “warrants an immediate and thorough investigation”.

“This sequence of events undermines the public’s trust and confidence in the government and bureaucracy, and could create the conditions for corruption and undue influence,” she said.

“The Territory Coordinator is the most powerful job in the Territory, with unprecedented authoritarian powers to completely override environmental laws. It is crucial these are exercised with the utmost integrity and free of influence.

“It is difficult to see how the Territory Coordinator can independently regulate the mining and fracking industries if he allegedly owes a favour to the head of a department tasked with promoting those industries.”

Mr Trier was appointed chief executive of Mining and Energy by Ms Finocchiaro in September of last year. He was previously Michael Gunner’s chair of the NT Gas Task Force, which would have brought him into contact with Mr Knowles again, who worked for Inpex until last year.

Mr Trier refused to respond to questions about the matter, including if he accepted that his decision to end the investigation created the perception that the graphic photos of the dogs and other documented evidence in the animal abuse case could be used to influence Mr Knowles’s decisions.

Two dogs owned by Stuart Knowles that were seized by animal welfare officers.

The NT Independent first sent questions to Mr Knowles about the animal abuse case on April 29, including pictures of the dogs suffering in various stages of tick infestation.

Roughly three hours after sending the questions, that made no reference to Mr Trier’s involvement, Mr Trier’s communications team in the Department of Mining and Energy took out an NT Independent subscription. The department’s communications team and Mr Trier have refused to explain that and whether Mr Knowles contacted him on that day, or if they discussed the animal abuse investigation and article at that time.

Mr Knowles, who also refused to say if he contacted Mr Trier after this masthead sent questions about the abuse, said in a statement that welfare officers attended his home on December 8 and 10, 2015 and again on January 21, 2016 “to site that, following remedial tick eradication actions, the dogs were all in good condition and the investigation was concluded”.

He previously said he “deeply regrets” the incident, but that he was away from home “working extended hours on a major project”.

He also said he did not “engage or initiate any contact” with Mr Trier about the matter at the time, but records show he did contact Mr Phillips.

Independent MLA Justine Davis said the issues relating to the termination of the investigation were “deeply concerning”.

“The suggestion that the current head of the Department of Mining and Energy, in his former role as CEO of Primary Industries, shut down an animal abuse investigation to protect a government colleague’s job raises serious questions about integrity, trust and accountability,” she said.

“That colleague is now the Territory Coordinator – the most powerful public servant in the Northern Territory – a role that must be held to the highest standards and that demands absolute transparency and the highest levels of trust. Any undisclosed issue that could expose someone in that position to coercion is a real threat to the integrity of government and the public interest.”

Opposition Labor Leader Selena Uibo said her party had previously objected to the powers vested in the Territory Coordinator role “and the potential for corruption and conflicts this posed”.

“It’s now clear those concerns were warranted,” she said.

“Lia Finocchiaro needs to seriously rethink her choice for Territory Coordinator, given these alarming revelations. The Chief Minister has already disappointed Territorians with her lack of leadership over serious allegations of public funding misuse at the Waterfront Corporation. It’s time she stepped up and addressed these latest concerns surrounding the Territory Coordinator.”