Department of Children and Families chief executive Emma White suddenly announced on Friday she is leaving the role, while her partner who led the department’s office of domestic, family and sexual violence reduction also announced she is leaving, but the Minister has refused to comment on the high-profile departures.
EXCLUSIVE: Darwin Waterfront Corporation chief executive Alastair Shields advocated for his mate Andrew Kirkman’s sister Jodie Ryan to be given more than $44,000 of taxpayer money to continue sitting on the waterfront board after she resigned as the NT’s head public servant, a new secret memo has revealed, raising further questions about undisclosed conflicts of interest at the DWC and the possible misuse of public resources.
The CLP Finocchiaro Government will unveil its surprise plans to review and change the NT Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act this week in Parliament, but the government is already facing criticism from the Central Land Council for failing to properly consult with traditional owners over the sudden changes, which they say threatens their rights and interests.
Former NT Police constable Zach Rolfe has taken up the Chief Minister’s challenge to substantiate that five senior officers who misled a coronial inquest about racist awards in the NT Police’s TRG unit committed a crime, completing an 82-page investigation report that he distributed to the Chief Minister, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Acting Police Commissioner on Tuesday, highlighting the ICAC’s failure to properly investigate the officers’ conduct.
EXCLUSIVE: Tourism Minister and Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby’s chief of staff worked for Alastair Shields at the Darwin Waterfront Corporation for more than a decade before being seconded to Ms Boothby’s office last August, the NT Independent can reveal, raising questions about the Minister’s office’s ability to objectively review a “briefing” the Minister requested into concerns of improper conduct at the taxpayer-funded corporation.
Business and Asian Relations Minister Robyn Cahill has travelled to Singapore as part of a Territory trade delegation to “strengthen ties and promote investment opportunities”, but her office would not say who exactly she is meeting with in the Asian city-state.
The CLP Minister responsible for the Darwin Waterfront Corporation has balked at ordering an external investigation into possible misuse of public resources and unresolved conflicts of interest at the taxpayer-funded organisation, choosing instead to keep the matter internal, while questions have also been raised about conflicts of interest with the ICAC and the DWC’s chief executive.
EXCLUSIVE: Senior government executive Andrew Kirkman advocated for a pay rise for Darwin Waterfront Corporation CEO Alastair Shields, despite various conflicts of interest and while he was acting head public servant, six months before the DWC hired Mr Kirkman’s wife for an unadvertised role on a hefty pay packet, a secret government memo obtained by the NT Independent has revealed.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has caused confusion with her public remarks about the five lying officers who misled a coronial inquest over their involvement in racist TRG awards, telling Parliament today that they are currently under an NT Police “internal review”, but later saying “this matter is closed” when asked what action she is taking as Police Minister to clean up the mess.
There may be a review currently ongoing that includes the Director of Public Prosecution’s questionable hiring practices, involving his son and daughter-in-law being hired for unadvertised jobs, Attorney-General Marie Clare Boothby says, and there may not be, but she stressed “nothing is off the table” when asked directly if she is reviewing the questionable appointments.
EXCLUSIVE: Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb was involved in more questionable hiring practices in his office that do not appear to have followed proper processes – outside of his own family members – the NT Independent can reveal, including hiring one lawyer to a non-advertised role last year who is now a senior adviser to the Attorney-General.
CLP Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby released a secret ICAC report in Parliament Thursday that probed the NT Police’s and DPP’s pursuit of former children’s commissioner Colleen Gwynne for hiring a mate for a senior job, finding the previous Labor government entered into an undisclosed payout deal with Ms Gwynne after her trial was aborted, but before the DPP could appeal the judge’s decision.
