Questions around Labor candidate for Fannie Bay Brent Potter’s involvement in securing $10 million of taxpayer money for an amphibious aircraft company that has yet to build a plane anywhere need to be fully answered, says the CLP, adding they are considering referring the matter to the ICAC.

Mr Potter, a fifth floor staffer and adviser to Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, said during an all candidates’ debate on ABC Radio Wednesday morning that he had helped facilitate the deal for Amphibian Aerospace Industries (AAI) to build the Albatross amphibious aircraft in the NT, having previously worked for the company’s CEO in another business.

He had previously told the ABC on Friday that he had declared a conflict of interest, but suspicions had been raised when he deactivated his LinkedIn page just hours before being announced as Labor’s candidate. The NT Independent revealed the business connections between Mr Potter and AAI’s CEO Dan Webster based on screenshot images of the page taken before it was deleted.

It is unclear why Mr Potter did not publicly discuss the project until it was revealed he was involved.

Mr Potter did not say when he declared the conflict of interest, but did reveal on Wednesday that the $10 million publicly-funded deal with AAI involves a mix of “equity and debt finance” for the company.

The Fyles Government have not disclosed the nature of the deal with AAI or explained what risk the Territory is carrying for the project that aims to see the so-called “Albatross” amphibian aircraft built in the NT by 2026 now. The company had previously been rejected for funding by the NSW Government and a plan on the Central Coast to build the planes there fell through in 2020.

Taxpayers have also paid for Mr Potter and other government staff to fly internationally to secure funding and supplier agreements for the private company.

Mr Potter said at the forum that he backed up his previous statement that business gets done based on who you know, not what you know.

“I mean, at the end of the day, in the private sector, you meet people that have great ideas and opportunities and if they come to you, it’s an obligation, you have to take them in the department to meet the bureaucracy,” he said.

“I mean, there’s plenty of small businesses that actually live in the area that I’ve linked into the department who’ve had difficulties getting access previously.”

He did not specify which local businesses he was referring to but added that if elected he would take business ideas to government to “run it through the department to see if it’s viable”.

The government have not said what information they were relying when making the investment decision to fund AAI with $10 million, despite the company never having built a single plane. The NT Independent understands the $10 million taxpayer-funded investment was arranged for AAI in less than 90 days, which a source with knowledge of the situation said was unusually quick.

The company had made similar pledges in the NSW Central Coast of being a $100 million a year business, offering hundreds of jobs, but that deal fell through for reasons that have not been made public.

Deal has ‘stink to it’ CLP says, Potter says govt undertook proper due diligence

CLP Opposition Deputy Leader Gerard Maley said the deal with AAI had “a stink to it” and that the government was not being “open and transparent” with the public about the $10 million deal.

“It’s really got a stink to it that needs to be dealt with immediately,” he said.

“This Labor Government has got a history of cover ups and all sorts of things across the last six years. And this seems to be, on the face of it, another cover-up. It’s a question that the Labor government must answer immediately.

“Further, questions must be asked as to whether Natasha Fyles and the Labor Government had knowledge of the actual or potential conflict of interest, as well as Mr Potter’s decision to shut down a LinkedIn page showing his past work history just a few weeks ago?”

Mr Potter had told ABC Radio on Friday that the page was deactivated to allow for “one single point of contact” because many people in the electorate were trying to contact him, later saying there were “three avenues” to contact him.

He also said he had declared conflicts of interest and his work history, but did not say when, adding that he was “really proud to have brought [AAI] to the Territory”.

Mr Potter had also claimed the project had been through “all levels of due diligence”, including “an independent assessment”.

“They were in talks with the Queensland Government and I said, ‘before you guys do anything, how about you come and talk to our investment commissioners’,” he said.

Mr Maley said he had heard the AAI deal had been referred to ICAC and would “seek advice about whether it has been reported”.

“If it has, we’re not required to, but if it hasn’t, we’re going to report it to ICAC because it’s really important that someone gets to the bottom of this information, because it’s coming out in dribs and drabs and it could be very serious,” he said.

“We know today that he facilitated a $10 million grant of taxpayers’ money and remember taxpayers’ money, that’s mums and dads money out there, Territorians who live and work in the Northern Territory. This is their money and the government spend it on their behalf. The government need to make sure that they’re open and transparent about where that money goes.”

AAI CEO Dan Webster did not respond to the NT Independent’s questions. A view of his LinkedIn page on Wednesday showed he had removed reference to Elbit Systems from public view, the company he and Mr Potter had worked at together before Mr Potter went to work for the NT Government in July 2020.