Not a single Country Liberal Party MLA has moved to call out improper conduct at the highest levels of the public service and their government’s failure to take action on an ICAC report that found the head of a major agency engaged in “negligence and incompetence” by appointing a friend to a job – with the silence particularly deafening from the party’s ministerial team, who are obligated to uphold the “highest standards of integrity” and “ensure public confidence” in government.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has claimed she cannot name the individual or take action due to the ICAC Act, but there is nothing in the Act preventing her as Minister from naming the individual or taking action against the “public officer” who was found to have mismanaged a conflict of interest causing “substantial detriment to the public interest and was also an inappropriate use of public resources…”.
The NT Independent understands the issue dominated discussion at yesterday’s wing meeting, with little in the way of government business being achieved.
The NT Independent sent a series of questions to all 16 CLP wing members on Monday, including asking if they believed in upholding their duties as elected officials, and reminding them of the MLA code of conduct which states that they must all act in the public interest and provide “accountability”. This masthead also asked if the MLAs understood their duty to maintain the public’s trust and taking action when improper conduct is presented to them, or if they were concerned with the ongoing cover-up and lack of accountability.
Not one MLA responded.
The NT Independent then sent more questions on Tuesday, after independent MLA Justine Davis announced that she would be naming the “senior public officer” in Parliament on March 18, asking the MLAs if they agreed with Ms Davis that the public has a right to know who the public officer is – given the nature of his position – and asked if they supported the lack of action against the public officer who breached the public’s trust.
Again, not one elected CLP member provided comment, including all eight ministers, Gerard Maley, Bill Yan, Marie-Clare Boothby, Steve Edgington, Josh Burgoyne, Jo Hersey, Robyn Cahill and Jinson Charls.
The ministerial code of conduct states that ministers must “conduct themselves in a manner that will ensure public confidence in them and in the government”.
“Ministers must not only act lawfully but also in a manner which withstands the closest public scrutiny and which has regard to prevailing community values and standards, and in the best interests of the people of the Northern Territory,” the code of conduct states.
It adds that ministers must also act in accordance with their obligations for “honest, efficient and effective government”.
Ms Finocchiaro also refused to answer further questions yesterday, including if she will now finally take action on the public officer given Ms Davis’s comments, or if she will sit silent until Parliament resumes on March 18, when it is expected that the public officer will be named and the Chief Minister heavily criticised for not upholding the public’s trust, covering-up the unsatisfactory conduct and damaging the agency’s reputation.
Ms Finocchiaro also refused to say if she would now refer the matter for a proper criminal investigation and claimed on Tuesday that she sought legal advice from the Solicitor General, but would not say when.
It appeared that she did not seek any legal advice after first learning of the senior public officer’s improper conduct involving an early 2024 hiring panel process last week, when she was provided an ICAC briefing days before it was made public on Friday.
Opposition Labor Leader Selena Uibo said it was unacceptable that the Chief Minister was ignoring the type of behaviour “she once vowed to stamp out”.
“The Chief Minister has gone from tough talk to empty excuses in just a few months – she needs to show real leadership or step aside for someone who will,” she said.
The naming of the public officer by the public is prohibited under the ICAC Act.
However, the NT Independent understands that as Minister responsible for the ICAC, there is nothing prohibiting Ms Finocchiaro from communicating to the public about the conduct of government and making a public statement about improper conduct when it is identified and investigated.
So much for being better than last government!
She might as well come out and name him, we all know who it is and the first thing they should have done when coming into power was sack him.
Well please tell me who they are as I would love to know
Michael Murphy.
Agreed
You know she can’t name or otherwise identify him, that would bring on a defamation suit and all I can say about the author and editor is grow up or go and work for the ABC
That’s not true Peter. As Minister responsible for the ICAC, the Chief Minister can name him and take action against him, even refer the improper conduct that the ICAC found for a proper criminal investigation. Where exactly are there defamatory imputations when the ICAC proved he engaged in improper conduct? The issue here right now is that the public cannot name him because of the ICAC Act, while the Chief Minister and her ministers have failed to uphold the public’s trust and take action on the misconduct that occurred in an important public role, despite their obligations under the ministerial code of conduct. If you want this to go away, tell your mates to deal with it.
What a bunch of pussies…..when it comes time to actually lead and govern…we have 17 MLA’s who act like they still are in opposition mode. Who gives a damn about MLA’s attending 2 events a day with the hope their snouts are showing in the paper, when they fail on major public perception events like this.
A very tired and crime weary population will tell them to their faces…..
In January 22 2016 the then NT Commissioner for Public Employment Craig Allen stated as follows in The Mandarin newspaper –
Territorians responded well to the introduction of the “one page pitch” in NT Public Service job applications, NT Public Employment Commissioner Mr Craig Allen tells The Mandarin (in January 2016).
Mr. Craig Allen also states –
“There is often very little difference between selection criteria. We’re trying to get people to write succinctly, and a good way to do that is the single page application.”
The response to the changes has been generally positive. A lot of people “have said ‘thank you for making it one page, we were sick of writing the same thing’,” he explained. “You would get lots of cut and pasting.”
If the selection panel has enough information and they think that person is a standout and is already well known to the panel, the selectors can choose not to interview them if it would be “a waste of time”, he adds.
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In the Northern Territory Public Service the Recruitment and Selection Policy –
a. The words “interview panel” have been changed to “selection panel” because interviews are not mandatory in the Northern Territory Public Service. Selections to an employment position can be made without conducting an interview by the selection panel.
b. Job applications in the Northern Territory Public Service will be limited to a one-page summary only with an attached resume including contact details for relevant referees irrespective if a position description has to up ten selection criteria that must be addressed in writing in one page only.
c. Selection panels will use eRecruit and standardised NT Public Service selection report templates.
Lucio, that doesn’t really matter, it all comes down to “how it is seen to be”. Check the interpretation and Electoral Act
And remember Lucio: they don’t care how they look. They know fine well they’re doing the wrong things but with little to no consequences and protection from the top of the tree, none of these policies or practice directions or advice and guidance documents mean a thing to them. Easily ignored over and over again.
If someone does manage to take them to task legally for one breach or another they simply dip into the tax payer funded arm of Government called Solicitors For the NT (SFNT) and use their resources to bleed them dry financially and then pay them to f**k off. After a quick round of Chardonnay at the pub it’s back to business as usual the next day.
It’s impossible to take Labor MLAs seriously, yes you Selena Uibo as you were there in 2016 and beyond with convicted child rapist and Labor heavyweight Kent Rowe. He avoided condemnation from you and your Labor mates for his sickening crimes, as reported previously on here, yet you’re jumping up and down now because Lia is covering up the name of one of her useful idiots in Government:
‘Senior Labor figures helped child rapist Kent Rowe get lighter sentence, court documents reveal: Chief Minister Natasha Fyles and other elected Labor members avoided condemning Rowe for his actions for months, before being forced into it by the CLP Opposition last week in Parliament.’
Where were you then Selena? SILENT it looks like.
I suppose hiding one name from the public is really something to get your teeth into, yes?
Lia is simply following the NT political playbook, as did Lawless, as did Fyles, as did Gunner, as did Henderson, etc etc
“The Chief Minister has gone from tough talk to empty excuses in just a few months”
What a short memory you have Selena, this rubbish is exactly the same as you and your mob did for years. Not to mention the huge multi-billion dollar hole you blew in the Budget. Where’s your comments on that Selena? Ah yes, sorry, hiding one name is more important.
People in glass houses……shouldn’t stay silent on child rapists in their ranks.
https://ntindependent.com.au/the-gunner-government-is-in-freefall-labor-uses-majority-to-reduce-oversight-kill-disciplinary-hearing-amid-scandal/
BTW, look out: ‘Kent Rowe will be eligible for release in March 2025.’