EDITORIAL: The Finocchiaro CLP Government doesn’t seem to understand the only way to make a political scandal go away is to confront it head-on, complete with resignations, if not from the politicians overseeing the dysfunction, then from those who engaged in and benefitted from it, with a thoroughly independent investigation to follow.
There are agreed upon rules in the dark arts of political communications about how to manage a scandal, but the Chief Minister’s Office – which has been unable to attract any qualified applicants for its director of communications role in months – appears to have adopted the lay-low and let it all blow over approach, which never works in politics, because the longer it remains unaddressed, the more it smells.
Especially in this case, where an independent MLA has eviscerated the credibility of the “evidence” provided by those in charge of the Waterfront Corporation, and the credibility of the government’s own Public Accounts Committee, which she proved was “fundamentally inadequate”, “flawed”, and “not robust enough to properly interrogate the issues raised”.
The PAC inquiry into the Waterfront has been exposed as a cheap ploy by the CLP to trick the public into thinking the substance of serious allegations of misconduct and governance failures involving taxpayer money was dealt with when it wasn’t. We still have questions over why Labor even suggested it.
But there’s also a new matter that ties Lia Finocchiaro directly to the governance failures at the Waterfront Corporation that she has repeatedly refused to comment on in recent weeks.
She breached the Disclosures of Interests Act when she chose not to disclose that her husband Sam Burke was a director of a company called Place Leaders Asia Pacific – which just happened to receive thousands of dollars of public money annually and an undisclosed sum earlier this year to host a conference at the Waterfront.
Let’s make this as clear as possible: As the deputy chief executive of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation, Sam Burke oversees $25 million a year in public money to operate the corporation. In this case, some of that money was moved directly to a company that he is a director of, with what appears to be no oversight. It doesn’t matter if this “networking” company is well-intentioned in handing out “awards” to municipal bodies or even if it claims it’s saving orphans in war-torn countries, there needs to be proper oversight applied when public money is being moved into private companies run by public servants.
Despite the DWC refusing to comment on this matter, we can assume their response would be that this is the way it’s always been done, so don’t question us about it.
Which is symptomatic of some of the governance failures raised at the Public Accounts Committee’s sham hearing in June, including money being transferred between the AustralAsia Railway Corporation and the DWC by the same people who control both entities – including to pay their salaries – along with the unusual overlap of board and executive roles at the Waterfront and the apparent mismanagement of serious conflicts of interest that went on for years.
That includes former DWC board member Andrew Kirkman (at one point the public servant approving payments and actions by the DWC as chief executive of DIPL) advocating to get his mate and DWC CEO Alastair Shields a pay rise while acting as head public servant and Shields six months later hiring Kirkman’s wife for an unadvertised role at the Waterfront.
None of this was properly explored at the PAC hearing in June. Minister responsible for the Waterfront Marie-Clare Boothby referred some of these matters to current head public servant Luccio Cercarelli before the public hearing, but has refused to make that report public.
The other problem for Lia on the Place Leaders matter is that she had 28 days to disclose that Burke was a director of the company in March 2022. She did not disclose that and breached the Act.
The political hypocrisy was in overdrive in December 2023, we now know, when she came out to call for then chief minister Natasha Fyles to resign, after the NT Independent revealed Fyles’s failure to disclose shares in a mining company she was making ministerial decisions about. Fyles eventually did resign.
Nearly two years late, Lia finally disclosed the directorship, in February 2024, when public discourse was heated around disclosure issues of elected officials. Then Burke reportedly left the director role just days after Finocchiaro was elected Chief Minister six months later.
Chief Minister asked about Waterfront this week after hiding from scrutiny for past month
Lia Finocchiaro has now not held a proper press conference for more than a month, since before the first story about her breach of the Disclosure of Interests Act. Her and her mate Boothby, have refused for weeks to answer any and all emailed questions about the Darwin Waterfront, Justine Davis’s findings into the PAC’s shortcomings, and the Chief Minister’s failure to disclose.
The government spinmasters have decided instead to run her government’s communications strategy through poorly written press releases and radio interviews, in the hopes the ongoing Waterfront scandal is not brought up.
It’s easy to avoid the matter when she appears on Mix 104.9 every week, given that host Katie Woolf’s husband, Pat Bellot (also known as the “angry guy” at the PAC hearing for his comment that he was getting “too worked up” to answer legitimate questions about the use of taxpayer money). Bellot was appointed by Boothby late last year to chair the DWC board – a job that pays him roughly $100,000 for six meetings a year – despite never having sat on a board before, let alone chairing one.
It was most likely a rude surprise for Lia when she appeared on ABC Radio Darwin with Adam Steer on Tuesday morning and was asked about the matter she’s been avoiding for months.
Steer referenced Davis’s report that the PAC did not do its job properly and that “she says the public deserves answers – what do you say?”
Finocchiaro replied that the CLP-controlled Public Accounts Committee had “looked into this” and found “any and all of the allegations were untrue”.
Not quite.
The PAC looked into issues involving Burke’s suspicious executive contracts and his higher duties allowances for two separate part-time jobs over more than two years, but it did not interrogate the matters deep enough to properly and fairly conclude anything, and did not look at pay slips and the Waterfront’s ledgers, which would show exactly how much money he was paid through higher duties allowance.
It also did not explore all of the other issues that were raised before and since, while its chair Clinton Howe has also refused to answer questions.
But Lia and her crackerjack media team have been trying to frame the scandal as a political attack on her husband and his mates Shields and Kirkman. She told Steer that Davis was playing a “really dirty political game”, that amounted to “vicious attacks on public servants”.
That was laughable.
We’re not talking about hard-working public servants here like nurses or teachers or police or corrections officers, we’re talking about three guys who have manipulated the public service and all its rules for their own advantage for decades. We can throw Pat Bellot into the mix as well now, as he’s well on his way in his role with the Waterfront, with taxpayers now presumably paying to get him that company directors course certificate he told everyone at the hearing he did not have.
This is a group of people in an exclusive club getting paid more money for part-time jobs than a lot of us struggle to make in a year of honest full-time work.
The Chief Minister, who jumps into full attack-mode when she has no answers, took another swipe at Justine Davis on radio for doing her job, stating: “If she wants to spend her time focused on that instead of making the Territory a better place, well, she’ll be answerable to her community”.
At what point does the Chief Minister have to answer to the Northern Territory community at large about her actions and her government’s full-on cover-up of governance failures and allegations of corruption at a corporation that is given more than $25 million in public funds every year?
This is about making the Territory a better place and the fact Lia doesn’t get that is disturbing. This is the very sickness that has prevented the Northern Territory from advancing for decades.
Steer had one more question for her: “Will you refer the matter to an independent body for investigation”?
“No,” she responded.
Back to the rules for handling political scandals. You can’t just rule out an investigation because your spouse is involved and it’s inconvenient for you. That’s called a massive conflict of interest.
We now have a sitting Chief Minister refusing a proper inquiry into her husband and his mates’ dealings involving the use of taxpayer money and her own inability to disclose.
Those CLP supporters who wish the Waterfront scandal would go away and that the NT Independent would stop reporting on it might want to ask the Chief Minister’s Office why this is being left to stink in the open and when real action will be taken.
Sometimes the only disinfectant for a scandal is seeing those resignations start pouring in to restore the public’s faith in their government and its real public servants.
9 parliamentary question times in Sept and Oct with the opportunity for more targeted questions than ever to be put to the CM on these issues. Word them well Justine, Kat, Mark. Maybe Robyn Lambley could put the deputy speaker in the chair and ask a question herself too
It is only alive in your and Chris’s head, it never was a scandal
TikTok
I run a local family firm that has operated in Darwin for over 40 years.
We are committed to the Territory and are fed up with these scandals. It’s time for the chief minister to move aside and allow some fresh blood to come in to work towards improving the dire situation the NT has found itself in.
I am also a proud NT Darwin born and bred Territorian and I agree with you Peter Cavanagh on this occasion and furthermore a proper investigation has to occur not the substandard NT Parliament 1 hours 20 minutes PAC rubbish that occurred ON Tuesday 3 June 2025.
7.1. In order to maintain public confidence in the integrity of the Northern Territory Public Sector, a Northern Territory Public Sector Officer must exhibit, and be seen to exhibit the highest ethical standards in carrying out his or her duties, and must pursue, and be seen to pursue, the best interests of the people of the Northern Territory. –
From the year December 2011, Employment Instruction Number 12, Code of Conduct at number 7.1, enacted pursuant to section 16 of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act (NT).
You’ll know well Lucio that any rule/guideline/order/policy/instruction/legislation/law is only as good as its enforcement.
‘Tough on crime’ but only for some.
Lucio that is not my post, sounds like one of the staff or chris
PeterCavanagh
The Darwin Waterfront Corporation Files scandal for LiaR Finocchiaro is exactly the same as the Epstein Files scandal for Donald Chump.
It’s a classic: Bait and Switch.
Donal Chump partly ran on a platform to expose everyone in the FBI Files of convicted sex offender and long time personal friend of his called: Jeffrey Epstein. Now Chump’s in power, he’s refusing to give the people who voted for him based on that, what he promised to give them.
The backlash has been swift and strong and rightly so. He risks his political future for continuing to lie and deny. No one cares about his other political games and announcements; they only see and hear his cover up and protection of who’s really in those Epstein Files (not to mention Donald Chump himself).
The lies, hypocrisy and double standards will stain him badly for the rest of his 3 years. Sound familiar?
LiaR Finocchiaro is committing a similar potentially fatal political manoeuvre.
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Sold Out:
It’s called: Bait and Switch. There are laws against it, in some parts of the economy at least.
Under Australian Consumer Law bait and switch advertising is illegal. The law strictly prohibits businesses from engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct, which includes false or misleading representations about goods or services in order to get the consumer in the door then offering them something different or at increased pricing.
Attention Grabber: The “bait” here was promises of transparency and accountability. Remember the promise of a lobbyist register anyone?
She stated, “One of the actions we will take if elected … is to create a lobbyist register,” highlighting that such a register is integral to transparency in government.
Scarcity or Unavailability: The Chief Minister now claims the advertised promise is unavailable: ‘sold out’, or ‘not at this location’ anymore.
The Switch: Staff suggest a less attractive alternative, pushing the customer to accept something other than what was originally promised.
This tactic plays on voter/public expectations and trust. If you’ve ever felt disappointed when an offer or promise wasn’t honoured, you have experienced a bait and switch attempt firsthand.
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You mentioned a conflict of interest and you were correct. The Chief Minister has been benefitting directly from the increased salary of her husband Sam Burke in this DWC mess.
The usual suspects are involved in the DWC: Andrew Kirkman, Jodie Ryan, Alastair Shields From The Public, Sam Burke.
If we take a step back from the individuals then we must ask ourselves: what is the actual problem here?
We believe it is a specific system of rewards offered and just like flies round shite, it attracts a particular kind of public servant.
In this case we can’t really use the words ‘public servants’ as it is more akin to ‘private servants’ directly to the Chief Minister and family.
Not to sound like the seemingly now retired from public life, Professor Boofby, one could argue that this was all going on before the current CM was in the job, and it was.
She was indeed revelling in all of the financial benefits from hubby Sam while she was in Opposition. We believe she knew exactly what was going on and how it was going on – they’re both lawyers remember so they would have known or ought to have known about the legalities or lack of, of such operations.
While sitting opposite the ALP Government, bleating and crying about transparency and accountability, she maybe never thought that one day she might be in the Big Chair herself and those protestations from her self-righteous high horse might come back to bite her.
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Of course, she now has an opportunity to show everyone observing from the sidelines what she will and will not tolerate on her watch.
So far on her watch, as not only Chief Minister but also Police Minister, it’s perfectly fine to publicly acknowledge that serving Police officers lied in statutory declarations which is a criminal offence and there are no consequences for that. None at all.
It appears “tough on crime” only applies to First Nations children.
Imagine if a 15 year old car thief had done the same. The righteous indignation and calls for being “tough on crime” would have been overwhelming.
Pitchforks, lanterns and torches would have been all over the Internet comment forums.
Has the ALP been loudly calling for their prosecution, after committing crimes?
Selena Stays Silent on that one.
And again, on LiaR’s watch, the DWC scandal involving her husband at the centre of it, sits like a dead buffalo at the side of the road.
Bloated, putrid, attracting all manner of attention while she sits on top of it, manically waving away the hordes of flies, proclaiming there’s nothing to see here, no dead buffalo, no smell, honest.
Please, everyone, hold your nose tight and look the other way.
*throws a tarp over the carcass and hopes no one sees*
The actual problem has been designed and supported by the CLPALP Alliance.
Almost identical to the stinking and rotten ICACarcass.
It is bare faced cronyism and nepotism, coupled with a lack of adequate checks and balances.
Add a large dose of secrecy and obfuscation and there it is: we’re being force fed one shit sandwich after another and we’ll continue to be unless we do something different. Very different.
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We’ve said many times before but we will say it again:
This is a people problem, contrary to Manuel Brown’s myopic misrepresentation.
The mechanisms of government are there. They probably won’t change too much with a change of Party.
It’s the people inside the buildings who are doing all the damage.
Imagine for a moment you had honest, genuine, open and transparent people working in the DWC, controlling the funds for the public benefit, not cost sharing to their mates.
Those honest, genuine, open and transparent people would have gladly opened all their email communications and Board minutes and so-called ‘conflict of interest’ registers and ledgers and payment slips to the Parliamentary Accounts Committee for the public to see and analyse.
They would also have mentioned in the evidence they submitted to the PAC and then again during questioning that Sam Burke was also a director of Place Leaders Asia Pacific – which just happened to receive thousands of dollars of public money annually and an undisclosed sum earlier this year to host a conference at the Waterfront.
But as we saw, we don’t have honest, genuine, open and transparent people there; we have the opposite: they kept all that information secret.
They hid it all from public view. They still won’t talk about it now.
Alastair Shields From The Public is doing his job well.
He is a Private Servant; not a Public Servant.
And LiaR Finocchiaro loves it like that. So does Sam with his big pearly white smile, laughing all the way to the bank.
And what are we hearing from her co-conspirators in the ALP?
Selena Stays Silent on the charade. Again.
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Manuel Brown is claiming “he’s not blaming individuals here” even though those individuals lied (certainly by omission) to his face in the PAC.
Manuel knows to stay in his lane.
The CLPALP Alliance are protecting their own.
Both overtly and covertly.
Both in public and behind the scenes.
Both by speaking out on some things and not speaking out on others.
Heard anything about replacing the darling of CLPALP Alliance, Greg Shamahan in the ICACarcass yet?
Nah, didn’t think so.
He’s being kept there to make sure none of the DWC scandal is being investigated.
THE GAME IS RIGGED.
So we have to Change The Game.
Only one group is prepared to do that:
Change For Better Party.
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Or maybe you’d prefer another shit sandwich. Tomato sauce anyone?
I predict a landslide to any party that promises to clean up the last 50 years of corruption!
The NT has always been run like this….we have just seen a small snapshot of the corruption!
How wealthy are the original CLP Ministers? Very!
Are their weird looking kids all in lucrative plum jobs? Yep! Note: Theirs was a A06 Policy public servant who magically jumped to CEO of a Department! Thanks mum!
Are their weird looking kids running for politics and a life on the Government teat? Sort of, nobody has voted them in!
A small irritant. Grit within a memory box. How often do territorian(s) realize by head count. How many in positions of power connect to/with legal backgrounds?