An investigation by the Office of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption into Labor government staffers’ misuse of public resources during the 2020 election period has been handed over to a former Supreme Court judge from another jurisdiction, acting commissioner Naomi Loudon has said, a situation arising from a conflict Ms Loudon declared but refused to publicly disclose.

On Monday Chief Minister Lia Fonocchiaro said ICAC Michael Riches’ suspension following alleged “inappropriate behaviour” towards several female staffers had been extended for an indefinite period.

Mr Riches was placed on extended leave in mid-June until September 22 while the Office of the Public Employment Commissioner investigated allegations by “several” female staff members of inappropriate behaviour on his part. The allegations came to light while Mr Riches was being investigated by ICAC Inspector Bruce McClintock over his handling of domestic violence allegations levelled at him by his now ex-wife.

Then-chief minister Eva Lawler said the OCPE would have its investigation into the workplace allegations against Mr Riches completed before September 22, but the office last week confirmed to the NT Independent that the three-month investigation “is continuing”.

His deputy Ms Loudon has been acting ICAC but she told Estimates hearings in June that she had disclosed a conflict of interest in relation to Operation Jupiter, the three-year investigation into Labor’s election rorts that probed former chief minister Michael Gunner and his staff using taxpayer money to fly to remote communities on polling days in marginal electorates. She said she had no involvement in the investigation and was not aware of the first report.

While Mr Riches initial report made no findings whatsoever as to the appropriateness of using taxpayer money for political campaigning during an election period, he pledged to release a second report to the then-chief minister Eva Lawler by June 30 focused solely on Labor government staffers’ misuse of public resources during the 2020 election period. Ms Lawler had pledged to release parts of that report publicly.

At Estimates, Ms Loudon refused to disclose the nature of her conflict, telling Parliament it was an “operational matter”.

She has maintained that refusal despite Centre for Public Integrity director Geoffrey Watson telling the NT Independent Ms Loudon should disclose it publicly in keeping with best practice for anti-corruption commissioners.

However, the NT Independent revealed that Ms Loudon may have a personal conflict of interest involving her close friendship with at least one former Labor staffer connected to Ryan Neve – Mr Gunner’s former deputy chief of staff – who approved the questionable travel expenses and helped run Labor’s 2020 re-election campaign from the chief minister’s office while drawing his taxpayer-funded salary. He is expected to be one of the subjects in the second report, as is at least one of Ms Lawler’s staffers.

Ms Loudon has refused to say if that was the conflict she disclosed internally. She has also never explained why she failed to produce the report that Mr Riches pledged to provide by the end of June.

In a statement to the NT Independent at 5.36pm on Tuesday, Ms Loudon said Operation Jupiter had been handed over to an unspecified former Supreme Court judge.

“Given the continued leave of Commissioner Riches, Operation Jupiter has been briefed externally to a former Supreme Court Justice from another jurisdiction,” Ms Loudon said.

“As the Acting ICAC, I have appointed that person as an authorised officer pursuant to section 131(1) of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Act 2017 (ICAC Act).

“I have also delegated relevant powers and functions under the ICAC Act to that person, pursuant to section 125(1) of the ICAC Act.

“No further comment will be made.”

Ms Loudon did not say who the judge was, exactly what they would be doing, why it took so long to bring them in or when the report would be released.

The Office of the ICAC is responsible for investigating corruption and other misconduct in the Northern Territory public service, including politicians, judges and the police.

In June Mr Riches said he was unaware of the allegations made by staff, stating that he had “always acted with the utmost professionalism toward all of my staff, and any suggestion to the contrary is outrageous”.

While Mr McClintock cleared Mr Riches of “corrupt conduct” in relation to the domestic violence allegations, including a $20,000 pay-off he made to his wife to drop a domestic violence order application made in May 2023, he made no reference to the undisclosed domestic violence undertaking he signed the same month and made no findings as to the truth of the domestic violence allegations.

There was no explanation provided for why the investigation by an independent investigator hired by the OCPE was taking so long to complete.

Mr Riches would have been paid $125,000 for the three months that he was not in the job.

Mr Riches did not respond to questions sent to him this week about his future in the role.

The chief minister did not respond to the question of whether she believed Mr Riches was suitable to continue in the role given the unresolved workplace allegations and his failure to disclose a court-ordered domestic violence undertaking he signed in May 2023 that remains in effect.

Independent MLA Robyn Lambley said last Thursday that Mr Riches was no longer the proper person to lead the Office of the ICAC.

“Riches has brought the integrity of the NT ICAC into disrepute,” she said.

“If he had any shred of respect for Territorians, he would resign and leave via the back door. The new CLP Government needs to reset ICAC and send the disgraced commissioner Michael Riches packing ASAP through a motion of Parliament in October.”