EXCLUSIVE: Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech and acting Speaker Dheran Young have refused to reimburse taxpayers for their personal interstate holidays, despite the independent body that determines politicians’ entitlements ruling that Government vehicles cannot be used by politicians for interstate personal travel.

The Lawler Government’s refusal to accept responsibility over the issue has been criticised by the Opposition and independents as “lacking integrity” and another example of a failure to live up to its promise to provide an “open and transparent government”.

The new Remuneration Tribunal Determination was made late last year, after the NT Independent revealed that Mr Paech and Mr Young charged taxpayers thousands of dollars over the Christmas holidays in 2022 for separate private travel interstate.

The use of the fuel cards was permitted at the time by a secret declaration by then-speaker Mark Monaghan, which was not broadcast to all MLAs and which was confusing and unclear.

Mr Monaghan told Budget Estimates hearings last June that he did not seek clarification from the tribunal – the independent body that sets politicians’ entitlements – before allowing the pair to use their government cars and fuel cards to travel interstate over the Christmas holidays.

However, the Remuneration Tribunal has now made the matter abundantly clear and forbidden the use of government vehicles for private interstate travel, in line with previous determinations that forbid the practice for judges and senior public servants.

The ruling was conveyed to all MLAs in a December 22 email from Parliamentary Clerk Mathew Bates, seen by the NT Independent, stating that “Members are no longer able to use their private NT Fleet car for private purposes outside the Territory”. There was no mention of being permitted to use the fuel cards or cars interstate in the tribunal’s previous determinations and no record that any MLA had done so in the past 10 years.

Calls for the Deputy Chief Minister and Mr Young to reimburse taxpayers for using their government cars and fuel cards have been ignored by the new Lawler Government.

Asked if the two politicians would pay taxpayers back for their travel now that the entitlement rules have been clarified by the independent statutory body, Chief Minister Eva Lawler said only that “we respect and follow the rules they (the Remuneration Tribunal) set”.

“Members are expected to use allowances within the rules set by the independent tribunal,” she said in an email to the NT Independent.

“The tribunal’s job is to set rules, our Government’s job is to focus on creating more jobs for Territorians, growing our economy and build a stronger Territory for us all.”

Ms Lawler’s office did not respond to a follow-up email seeking clarification over why the two politicians would not reimburse taxpayers after the rules had been clarified by the tribunal.

Independent MLA Robyn Lambley said the fuel card “rorts fiasco” involving Mr Paech and Mr Young came down to “a matter of integrity”.

“Not paying the money back only further demonstrates their lack of integrity,” she said. “Our new Chief Minister should be instructing these two to pay it back, not colluding with them. Paying taxpayers back is obviously the right thing to do.”

Mr Monaghan made the changes to the entitlements to permit the two politicians to charge taxpayers for their holidays on December 14, 2022 – four days before Mr Young charged taxpayers more than $2600 for fuel – and presumably other items – to travel from the NT to his hometown of Wooloweyah, NSW. Six days after that, Mr Paech charged taxpayers more than $800 to travel to Adelaide and back, stopping in SA wine country.

Both had reportedly approached the Speakers’ office to “seek clarification” on whether they could use their government vehicles for personal travel interstate.

Mr Monaghan had admitted at Estimates that the clause around using fuel cards interstate had been omitted from the tribunal’s determination sometime around 2007, but said he felt it was “completely fair as an entitlement” and permitted the two politicians to use their government cars interstate for personal reasons without seeking clarification from the tribunal.

CLP Opposition Deputy Leader Gerard Maley said the fuel card scandal was “downright appalling” and showed an “utter lack of judgment by the Labor members”.

“It really does speak to the ongoing integrity issues plaguing the Lawler administration that is bereft of any genuine commitment to accountability,” he said.

“Seven years down the drain, and Territorians are still being fed empty promises of an open and transparent government that the Labor Party committed to.”