Another senior chief executive in the NT Government has taken sudden “extended leave”, with sources telling the NT Independent Andrew Kirkman’s leave was only announced to staff earlier this week, effective Monday, and comes amid lingering questions over the employment status of outgoing police commissioner Jamie Chalker.

The leave means Mr Kirkman, the chief executive of the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics, will not be present for upcoming Estimates hearings, along with Mr Chalker, who last week was reportedly asked to resign by the government but went on “indefinite leave” instead, while Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said “private discussions” relating to his contract remain ongoing.

Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler and Ms Fyles did not respond to questions about Mr Kirkman’s leave, including why he would miss Estimates hearings or when he might be returning to the role.

Mr Kirkman’s sister Jodie Ryan suddenly resigned last May as head of the Department of Chief Minister & Cabinet, following former chief minister Michael Gunner’s shock resignation.

Mr Kirkman, Ms Ryan and Mr Chalker grew up together and are said to have remained friendly, with all at one time holding some of the highest positions in the NT public service.

Sources told the NT Independent that Mr Kirkman’s unannounced leave was a surprise to staffers, who were told it was “long-service leave”. He has been in the role since 2015 and in the NT public service for many years before that.

Emailed questions to Mr Kirkman were responded to with an automatic out-of-office reply yesterday stating only that he was “currently on extended leave” and offering no date of return.

It is understood NT Infrastructure Commissioner Louise McCormack is currently acting chief executive.

Mr Kirkman’s time in DIPL’s big chair has been marked with controversy in recent years, including overseeing the ongoing unsafe Bellamack homes scandal that the NT Independent revealed in 2021 involved departmental officials downplaying the risk of unsafe homes to the community in contradiction of independent engineer reports.

Mr Kirkman also oversaw a failure to bring TIO Stadium up to code to permit people to enter the building safely, which has required extra fire trucks and safety equipment at the popular stadium during highly-attended sporting events.

The department suffered a series of embarrassments with the stadium and flawed attempts to bring it up to code, including hiring the same company that designed its improper fire hydrant system to fix it while that company did not have the proper licence to carry out the works.

Mr Kirkman made headlines at last year’s Estimates hearings, telling MLAs he first had no idea why the ICAC was investigating the Katherine DIPL office, then completely changing his story.

No date for his return to the role was provided.