The terms of reference for the increasingly controversial proposed Middle Arm industrial precinct have been signed off by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, the Fyles Government has said, although the terms of reference have not been made public and the project is the subject of a Senate inquiry.

The announcement came on the same day it was revealed Chief Minister Natasha Fyles and her senior adviser Gerard Richardson had been referred for investigation into possible criminal conduct, in relation to Mr Richardson’s consultancy company Brookline Advisory acting as the registered lobbyist for Tamboran Resources and Ms Fyles’ breaches of the ministerial code of conduct for not immediately divesting her shares in another gas company.

Tamboran Resources is the largest player in the Beetaloo Basin and a major proponent of Middle Arm, with the government pledging land to the company to build a massive LNG plant.

At the start of September the Senate voted to refer the controversial plans for the industrial precinct to the Environment and Communications Reference Committee. Its terms of reference states that among other things, it will look at advocacy by industries and their representatives throughout the Middle Arm proposal.

Territory Development Minister Eva Lawler said in a statement the precinct would be an “economic enabler” that leverages the NT’s abundance of natural resources and critical minerals that she claimed could be harnessed to counter climate change.

“The terms of reference for the strategic environmental assessment have been formulation through consultation between environmental experts, community members and government bodies to ensure no stone goes unturned throughout the environmental assessment process,” Ms Lawler said.

“Our Territory Labor Government is focused on protecting the environment, creating green energy, boosting job numbers and growing our economy, all of which will be facilitated through the Middle Arm sustainable development precinct.”

However, Middle Arm has also been referred to as a “carbon bomb” because of the centrality of processing of gas fracked in the Beetaloo basin, with the federal independent teal Member of Parliament Monique Ryan being the most recent to describe it that way.

Ms Lawler said the the draft terms of reference was publicly available for community input last year, in which 30 submissions were received.

The draft terms of reference were created by the Territory Government but under the agreement, the environmental assessment between both levels of government led the Commonwealth to create its own terms of reference based on the Territory’s draft and public submissions in response.

Ms Plibersek has made no statement about the terms of reference and they are not currently available on either of the government’s websites.

According to the federal lobbyist register, Mr Richardson’s company was first registered as a lobbyist on April 13, 2022 – just one day after Federal Labor publicly matched the Coalition’s pledge to fund the proposed Middle Arm precinct with $1.5 billion of taxpayer money – during the federal election campaign.

The lobbyist registry also lists Mr Richardson’s business partner Lidija Ivanovski as being on the register. Ms Ivanovski is a former media adviser to former chief minister Paul Henderson, however, she more recently worked as now-Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ chief of staff for years before becoming the second-in-charge of Federal Labor’s 2022 election campaign that saw Anthony Albanese elected Prime Minister.

The Territory Government’s website describes the Middle Arm development as having a focus on low emission hydrocarbons, green hydrogen, advanced manufacturing, carbon capture and storage, however it previously heavily featured the word “petrochemicals”. The ABC revealed through government documents that Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet staff were ordered to remove the word “petrochemicals” from government websites relating to the controversial project but only after Ms Fyles repeatedly publicly said there would be no petrochemicals in the precinct.

The ABC had previously revealed the project’s original business case described it as a new gas demand centre and FOI documents also showed the Fyles Government’s concept drawings had four out of five export jetties used for shipping gas and petrochemicals, with the graphics given to the federal government around the same time the Chief Minister was denying there would be petrochemicals.

The Senate committee is also investigating the likely and intended future uses of the site, the funding intentions of the Commonwealth government, and any climate, environmental, health or cultural heritage impacts as a result of developing the harbour, as well as engagement with First Nations groups and communities and adherence to the principles of free, prior and informed consent.

The NT Independent also revealed last month that Ms Fyles had an undisclosed number of shares in gas giant Woodside that she later claimed she was keeping so “they might grow for the kids”, adding “let’s see where those 169 shares go one day”.

Ms Fyles has come under intense pressure to resign following revelations she breached the ministerial code of conduct by not immediately divesting the shares in the gas giant with an interest in the Middle Arm. She later divested the shares. Ms Fyles has made the Middle Arm project the focal point of her leadership and has used taxpayer money to promote the project around the country.

Former police officer and current independent MLA Mark Turner referred Ms Fyles and Mr Richardson to the ICAC, in which he urged the NT Police’s input on the investigation, which he said was necessary to ensure government “operates in a manner that is consistent with the public good” following Labor Cabinet ministers repeatedly ignoring their obligations to investigate the Chief Minister’s multiple breaches of the public’s trust.

In a statement to other media, Ms Fyles said: “All rules and regulations have been complied with. We won’t let political games get in our way.”