EXCLUSIVE: Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech personally invested in a liquor wholesale company that supplies alcohol to Alice Springs bottle shops two months before his Labor Government controversially permitted Intervention-era grog bans on remote communities to lapse in 2022, the NT Independent can reveal.
Mr Paech, who played a key role in Labor’s decision to let the 15-year-old alcohol bans end with no safety net in place to deal with the social consequences and against advice from Indigenous health groups, obtained an undisclosed number of shares in liquor and food distribution company Metcash in May 2022, parliamentary disclosure records show.
Metcash is registered as a liquor wholesaler with the NT Government, supplying take-away grog and groceries to Alice Springs and Darwin through IGA stores – including food to remote community shops – while its subsidiary also supplies alcohol to Thirsty Camel, Cellarbrations and Bottle-O stores in the NT and across the country.
Mr Paech was the Minister of Indigenous Essential Services at the time he acquired the shares, as well as Minister for Remote Housing and Town Camps, which appears to have placed him in contravention of the NT Cabinet code of conduct, which forbids ministers from holding shares in any company “that may create a conflict of interest as a result of their portfolio responsibilities”.
Mr Paech listed the shares in Metcash six days after he was sworn in as Attorney General, Aboriginal Affairs Minister and Minister for Gaming and Licensing in May 2022, raising further questions around perceived conflicts of interest with his portfolios.
Two months after he obtained the shares, the alcohol bans he and former chief minister Natasha Fyles denounced as “racist” were rescinded, leading to major spikes in crime, alcohol-fuelled violence and emergency hospital admissions involving Indigenous Territorians that forced the Prime Minister to hold crisis talks with the NT Government in Alice Springs in January last year, ultimately resulting in the grog bans being reinstated.
The NT Parliament’s Register of Members’ Interests shows Mr Paech quietly deleted the Metcash shares on December 19, two days after Ms Fyles resigned, following revelations she held undisclosed shares in a mining company that was alleged to have contributed to heavy metal poisoning of Indigenous Territorians on Groote Eylandt, which she had refused to investigate as Health Minister.
The deletions of the Metcash shares from his parliamentary register occurred the same day he was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister and Eva Lawler was sworn in as Chief Minister.
The updated register is not publicly available online until next month, however the NT Independent viewed a hard copy of the declaration on Friday, which shows Mr Paech held the undisclosed number of shares in Metcash for 19 months, including while Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing, which gave him the power to make decisions affecting the liquor industry.
Independent Alice Springs MLA Robyn Lambley questioned the reasons behind Mr Paech’s decision to let the grog bans on remote communities lapse at the time and said yesterday that his shares in a liquor wholesale company that stood to benefit from the grog bans ending was inappropriate and a clear breach of the ministerial code of conduct.
“His twisted, ill-conceived and dangerous political views thrust Central Australia into a seven-month nightmare of alcohol fuelled violence like we have never seen before. During that time we saw the highest rates of domestic and family violence on record in Alice Springs,” she said.
“It seems the Minister was not only driven by his extreme ideology to lift those grog bans in July 2022, it was a decision that could have personally benefited himself and his shares in a company that wholesales alcohol to NT liquor outlets.”
Mr Paech has positioned himself politically as a champion of Indigenous Territorians, however statistics show a 50 per cent increase in alcohol-related emergency presentations in the months after the “Stronger Futures” alcohol ban was rescinded, with Aboriginal health organisations criticising the NT Labor Government for not listening to their concerns and for failing to provide additional resources to deal with the skyrocketing domestic violence and other crimes that followed in Alice Springs, town camps and hundreds of small Indigenous communities across the NT as a result of the bans being lifted.
Mr Paech did not respond to a series of questions posed by the NT Independent on Monday, including if he had disclosed the shares to Cabinet at any time during discussions concerning the remote community grog bans or other alcohol policy. He instead issued a statement that said he has “always complied with the ministerial code of conduct and the Legislative Assembly (Disclosure of Interests) Act”.
“All rules have been followed,” he said. “The Chief Minister has made it clear that a comprehensive review of the conflict of interests process in the NTG is warranted and that the review is progressing.
“Since becoming Deputy Chief Minister, I have divested all shares.”
However, the ministerial code of conduct specifically states that “ministers” must divest shares, which Mr Paech was when he personally acquired the shares in Metcash in 2022. There is nothing in the handbook that suggests that provision would only apply upon becoming Deputy Chief Minister.
Ms Lambley said Mr Paech was “lying” about following the rules.
“He has breached the ministerial and Legislative Assembly rules around the management of conflicts of interest, just like Natasha Fyles,” she said.
“The credibility of this government is shot. Paech must go – an Attorney General with no respect for the laws and rules is unacceptable. This is the ultimate in unethical behaviour from a Minister.”
Chief Minister Eva Lawler did not respond to all questions yesterday about her knowledge of Mr Paech’s shares, but said she would not be referring Mr Paech to the ICAC for investigation, despite concerns he invested in a company that could profit from his government’s decisions.
“The rules of these shares have been complied with. I will not be referring the member to the ICAC,” she told the NT Independent in a statement.
“I have stated we are conducting a complete review of ministerial conflict of interest controls.”
Ms Lawler committed to restoring the public’s trust in the Labor Government following Ms Fyles’ shares scandal, including pledging a review of how politicians report their shareholdings, but in nearly two months, no details, including the terms of reference of the pledged review, have been released.
The ALP NT is the dumbest collection of human beings and territorians voted them in!
Absolutely Absurd !!
NT Labor of course. We really have scraped the bottom of the barrel with our hypocritical elected representatives.
How is this man Deputy Chief Minister let alone an elected MLA? No one would ever accuse him of intelligence or integrity.
This self entitled self appointed high and mighty upstart is a disgrace to the entire political system.
Agreed
You got it in one Sam….. but the last part is the truly concerning part….. the Voters voted them in TWICE….. the first time was bad enough, but the second has proved the folly of such Un-researched Vote casting!!! Hopefully the lesson has been learnt…. but this years elections will the test of the wisdom of territorians
The Labour government has completely lost touch with the good hard-working people of the Territory. It appears that every single MP is only divested in their own agenda. Their transparency is non existent and their attempts at getting the criminals off the street is abysmal. Bring on Territory elections.
Definitely a conflict of interest but Ms Lawler apparently does not think so in commenting that the rules of his shares have been complied with????
Breathtaking arrogance and stupidity. And who is paying for these dopes to set themselves up for life? That would be you and me.
The fact that buying the shares was a breach of the code of conduct is not exonerated by dumping them to save your arse
I agree that this Labor Government is among the worst on record, however, please don’t forget the fiasco under the previous CLP debacle. Anyone who thinks that the CLP is a viable alternative should have a long think and an even longer look at the history of Territory politics.
People, please consider voting for an Independent in the forthcoming election. The major Parties will tell you that a hung Parliament would lead to chaos; but really, would you expect them to say anything else?
The major Parties and the Incumbents have a firm grip on the path to being elected. This stranglehold must be broken for the good of the Territory.
So he divested the shares when he became Deputy Chief Minister (As there was not a competent alternative) this means that he kept them during the crimes and shares fiascos. This will test Eva and see if she has the balls to identify a conflict of interest for what it is.
Of course he has positioned himself as a Champion for the Indigenous as he contributed to their anti-social, criminal. racist actions by a large percentage of particularly young males and females who have struck fear into a mostly law-abiding community. Shame on you and your bullshit ideals. If it walks like a Duck………………..
He possibly didn’t know he was buying them, and Chansey (who I know) possibly didn’t know what companies Metcash owns and what they do and the punch line is the share price went down so he lost money. We have to be careful how much we scrutinise MLA’s. Have you noticed not many people are putting their hands up for the job. Look at Barnaby Joyce ‘s recent media sensation. Has a few on the juice and falls over a planter box. If most people do it it dosn’t get on the ABC.