The Finocchiaro CLP Government will roll the Office of the ICAC into a new “Integrity and Ethics Commission”, following a secret review into the NT’s integrity bodies that the Chief Minister confusingly says she ordered only a few weeks ago.
The review into the efficiency of the OICAC; the Office of the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner; the Health and Community Services Complaints Commission and the Auditor-General’s office, was conducted by ICAC Inspector Bruce McClintock and NT judge Graham Hiley, with the government accepting all of its recommendations in full, including consolidating the bodies, with the exception of the Auditor-General, into “a single, unified statutory commission”.
No public consultation was undertaken.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro tabled the report in Parliament Thursday afternoon, while also announcing that acting ICAC Greg Shanahan has left the role as of August 31, with deputy commissioner Naomi Loudon once again the acting commissioner, despite her reportedly needing to exit the role last December “in order to pursue Defence Reserve obligations”.
Ms Finocchiaro did not order the review into the ICAC and other integrity bodies last December when she appointed Mr Shanahan and instead only ordered the review in July, which makes it one of the fastest reports finished in the NT’s history and unique in that all of its recommendations are being accepted in full.
The new integrity commission will be led by an “Integrity and Ethics Commissioner, supported by a single chief executive and dedicated assistant commissioners responsible for each integrity function”, the report stated.
The Auditor General will retain operational independence “but [will] participate in a shared corporate services arrangement” with the new commission.
Ms Finocchiaro did not explain why she only ordered the review at some point in July, but said she finally did it because of “the continued loss of public confidence in the ICAC, following a series of documented challenges since its inception in 2018” and that it has cost taxpayers $35 million over that period.
She added the McClintock-Hiley review found there had been damage to “the public reputation and standing of the ICAC”.
“The McClintock-Hiley Report makes clear it would not be responsible to continue with the current model and would lead to suboptimal results,” she said. “In accepting the [report] in full, we are confident it will strengthen integrity functions and restore public standing.”
The report noted that three of the four public integrity bodies are presently being run by acting office holders.
It found resourcing and staffing pressures in the agencies “are pervasive”, with numerous vacant positions and difficulties recruiting qualified staff, with some reporting a lack of funding from the government to complete their duties.
It also found some of the bodies could not fulfil all of their statutory functions currently and were forced to prioritise with limited resources due to the lack of funding.
Issues with the Office of the ICAC
The McClintock-Hiley review found the OICAC was “performing its education function adequately” but was having “issues” detecting corruption in public officers. It suggested the nearly 12-month leave of absence by former commissioner Michael Riches following scandal had effects on the functioning of the office as it was managed by the two acting commissioners and led to poor morale amongst staff.
“Unquestionably, the absence of permanent leadership in combination with certain other challenges has had a damaging effect on the public reputation and standing of the ICAC,” the report stated.
“For it to operate effectively, in whatever form is ultimately selected, that public standing must be re-established.”
Recruitment of qualified ICAC staff was also identified as a problem, with nine positions currently unfilled, which it suggested could be because of the office’s poor reputation or possibly because the NT Police pay much more than the OICAC.
The report also suggested that the OICAC was competing with the Health Complaints Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman for investigators in the relatively small jurisdiction.
But the report also raised a “deeper structural problem with the ICAC” which it said needed to be addressed, around the role of commissioner requiring high-level legal skills similar to a judge, but also requiring the position to act as a chief executive of the agency.
“It is very rare to find one individual who is possessed of both skill sets…” the report stated. “This appears to be a major factor in the performance of the ICAC to date.”
With regard to the Office of the Ombudsman, the report found morale was generally “good” despite it also being run by someone in an acting role. The Ombudsman is struggling with pressures around the “breadth and complexity” of its work, including having to investigate complaints against the NT Police while struggling to hire as well.
The HCSCC was also found to be “under-resourced and has difficulties carrying out the full extent of its statutory mandate”. It is also being run by an acting commissioner. The report concluded it needed more funding, “targeted resourcing, structural clarity and legislative support”.
The McClintock-Hiley report found the Office of the Auditor-General was also facing funding issues, which prevented it from carrying out “discretionary or strategic audit work”.
It recommended rolling the other agencies together to create the Integrity and Ethics Commission.
The report specifically recommended that the commissioner of the OICAC retain the powers of the current ICAC, but should now be named the NT Integrity and Ethics Commissioner. Assistant commissioners would have authority for the other agencies.
It suggested the new commissioner could be a part-time job to attract candidates who might not want a full-time role or who might not want to move to the Northern Territory.
The report concluded that implementing the new integrity commission “will strengthen the integrity system in the Northern Territory, support sustainable governance structures, and improve the capacity of statutory offices to deliver their mandates effectively and independently”.
“When reviewing other jurisdictional models, it became apparent that the NT context – size, population, diverse service needs – warranted a bespoke structural arrangement, designed to be fit-for-purpose for the unique context,” it stated.
The report also recognised Mr McClintock’s conflict of interest in relation to his Inspector position, stating the future of the position would need to be considered.
It was not disclosed who would hire for the new roles or how much the restructure will cost. No timeframe for consolidating the agencies was provided.
What a load of $H!!tE!
The Office of Public Disclosures led by a absolute genuis, did eff all except kill off the whistleblowers!
The NT ICAC, led by the worst drop kicks they could find, did eff all except kill off the whistleblowers!
Whatever comes next will also do eff all and will kill off the whistleblowers!
If you see corruption in the NT, ask to join in. Do not report it.
Another sleight of hand (or should we say shite of hand) trick by Bruce.
First of all, you don’t need a judge and an incompetent ICAC overseer to tell us that there is ‘damage to “the public reputation and standing of the ICAC”.’
We could have told you that for free.
Secondly, this has been done in part by the hiring practices of the CLPALP Alliance and their joint support of Greg Shamahan.
A lack of resources is a tried and tested way to neuter any accountability body and is being used to great effect here to make sure it can’t do its job properly…..if you believe its job is to find and punish corruption that is. (We don’t).
Thirdly, this should be shocking to everyone interested in governance and where your tax money is going.
Greg Shamahan, career NT public servant (LOL), NT Government lawyer, right up there in the top levels of Government had the ICAC job for 12 months.
He was paid HALF A MILLION DOLLARS IN SALARY but yet, according to our distinguished Reviewers, Greg was ‘having “issues” detecting corruption in public officers.’
No shit, Sherlock. That’s exactly why he was put there and supported in his endeavours to not detect corruption in public officers, by the CLPALP Alliance.
For them, the ICAC worked exceptionally well, thank you Greg.
…
We need transparency built into governance: full public disclosure of all decision-making documents, contracts and conflict of interest registers related to government bodies etc. No more hidden deals. Free FOI, a commitment to full and open Government.
We need an independent, empowered ICAC: our anti-corruption body must have true independence and the legal power to pursue investigations without political interference and with real consequences—even against senior figures currently protected by the system. The ICAC we have now should be shut down, cleaned out and started again under different management.
We need real, robust whistleblower protection: no messing around, even the sniff of retaliation and prosecution should be darkening your door. New whistleblower incentive schemes, more encouragement of reporting, annual whistleblower awards and promotions, and more.
…
Also, if you want to read what a real flesh and blood NT Government whistleblower had to say about how to fix the ICAC you can read Ferg Ferguson’s submission to Michael Much More Riches in 2023 when Riches wanted ideas from the public on how to help him protect whistleblowers:
https://changeforbetter.party/?page_id=121
Rolling them into one body won’t change the culture, it’ll just centralise it.
The ICAC under Greg Shamahan refused to investigate anything to do with the Darwin Waterfront Corporation Scandal thereby protecting and enabling the Chief Minister, her husband and their cronies.
Do you believe that a single body staffed with more NTG friendly people is going to do anything different?
Neither do we.
…
The CLPALP Alliance is suppressing our rights to know stuff and to see proper investigations into their friends and families.
Change For Better Party are the only ones promising to Change This Rigged Game.
It’s up to us now: do we want this to permanently Change For Better or are we happy to leave it to the CLPALP Alliance to fix it for us?
This so called proposed new ‘NT Integrity and Ethics Commission’ are just words on a piece of paper and I do not believe will do anything to restore confidence that Territorians carving for because the obsession with excessive secrecy and the lack of transparency in the Northern Territory.
As taxpayers and citizens of the Northern Territory, the figures we are provided of total NT public service employees excludes the around 1,700 cleaners, grounds and maintenance personnel, canteen staff and critical classroom support staff engaged by public school councils in the Northern Territory.
As a taxpayers and citizens of the Northern Territory, the figures we are provided with do not include the following publicly unknown head count numbers of persons performing work in the NT public service –
• The number of persons engaged on ABNs as independent contractors performing work in the NT public service.
• The number of persons engaged by external labour hire firms as labour hire employees performing work in the NT public service.
In addition there is also the obsession with excessive secrecy and the lack of transparency in the Northern Territory as to how much of taxpayer dollars may paid out because of the so called “commercial and in confidence”.
As such, this also allows these amounts of tax dollars to be hidden from taxpayers and citizens of the Northern Territory.
So it is a continuation of “Bread and circuses” as the Ancient Roman poet Juvenal said over two thousand years.
Lucio Labor can answer all your questions.
Go try Boof with your attempted deflection. Territorians are craving for good quality high standards governance not attempted deflections. The obsession with excessive secrecy and the lack of transparency in the Northern Territory is unacceptable.
Why ‘Replicate’? Nine ICAC positions unfilled. The terms: Integrity and/or Ethics? A violation of both current and past Govt(s) values and behaviours has brought us to our knees. A simple Territory truth. That every territorian now knows. A possibility of REDRESS terminated barely one year ago. And since that time, event, values, accountable behaviours, fully extinct! There is no way forward under current circumstances. Management and/or Political Leadership? Grasp the nettle. Start all over again. Or, every Territorian(s) future . . . elsewhere. Yes we do . . . NEED A THIRD POLITICAL PARTY OF BROAD VALUES BASED UPON ‘INTEGRITY / ETHICS plus TRANSPARENCY / ACCOUNTABILITY. “Our” Territory is worth cleaning-out.
Happy Friday
Reading this article whilst having smoked salmon on toast, in the company of our bearded dragon feasting on his mealy worms, l was struck with “ Is LiaR offering Territorians Yellow snow again”?
Blind Freddy may say “Why would the CLP create any agencies with greater powers than ICAC- they would go LiaR!
Also may l suggest the referencing of a political party using the Chief Ministers name does not educate the masses that the decisions made are decisions sanctioned by the party in power!
When Labor was in all Gunner, Fyles and Lawler failings where NT Labor party failings and not individuals!
Think about it!
Keep great
Daz
What do you do when your husband “Should” be investigated by ICAC?
Close down ICAC.
Well done to the CLP.
Your not gunner be campaigning on openness and transparency in 2028 right?
Now the integrity & ethics committee can investigate the 2015-25 DWC Management & board for fraud, deception, abuse of office, bullying etc; it can help include 2025 DWC Chair Patrick Bellot, Mix 104.9 FM Radio Announcer Katie Woolf’s husband, who is getting frustrated by Waterfront residents suggesting he is now part of the DWC Mafia cabal & part of the establishment which suggests Mix 104.9 FM is now a cancer on democracy as local Darwin community information is manipulated. Why wouldn’t Katie as protect ‘the hand that feeds her’. Here is hoping CoD LM Peter Styles will be open, transparent & consultative, the opposites of 2017-25 CoD LM Kon Vatskalis. Independent media is vital!