The Fyles Labor Government has shut down a censure motion brought by the Opposition for not publicly condemning the actions of their former party secretary and ministerial adviser Kent Rowe for repeatedly raping a child, while questions have also been raised about the response the Deputy Chief Minister gave when asked about when she first became aware of the sex crimes.

Rowe was sentenced to five years jail for the historical sex offences earlier this month, suspended after two and half years, but the Labor Party has been slow to condemn his actions or disclose when they first became aware of the allegations.

Rowe served as secretary of the party for five years, and had significant influence on the internal machinations of the party for the better part of a decade, overseeing two elections in 2016 and 2020, ultimately working himself into a role as one of former chief minister Michael Gunner’s top advisers after the 2020 NT election.

The CLP spent most of Question Time Tuesday repeatedly asking Labor Ministers to condemn his actions and to disclose what they knew about the sex crimes, saying the Labor Party and the government’s integrity and values had been called into question by their silence on the matter.

Josh Burgoyne asked Chief Minister Natasha Fyles if Rowe’s sacking in February 2021 as a senior adviser and caucus liaison to Mr Gunner following his involvement in the cocaine sex scandal was connected to his sex offending.

Ms Fyles, who was Leader of Government Business at the time, dismissed the question and said she wanted to discuss other matters.

She had said earlier in Question Time that “this matter has been dealt with through the courts – of course I condemn that behaviour”.

It was the first time any member of Labor has condemned Rowe’s actions.

The CLP then moved to censure the government over their ongoing silence about Rowe, but Leader of Government Business Chansey Paech rejected the motion, that would have brought on a full debate in Parliament.

“Territorians have been waiting for 84 days since Kent Rowe was convicted to hear from the Chief Minister on this deeply disturbing matter and the close relationship between the offender and her government,” said CLP shadow minister for women Marie-Clare Boothby.

“Territorians expect Natasha Fyles and members of her cabinet to take a strong stand against the reprehensible behaviour of this individual.

“Territorians want to know why Natasha Fyles spruiks about ‘Labor values’ but fails to publicly condemn the most heinous of actions and send a clear message to our community that such behaviour is despicable.”

What did Manison know and when did she know it: Lambley

On Tuesday, independent MLA Robyn Lambley asked Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison when she first became aware of Rowe’s offending.

Ms Manison admonished Ms Lambley for asking the question, saying it was “in the gutter”.

“I will answer the question honestly,” she said. “I found out about this when this was reported in the media.”

However, Rowe was not publicly named in media reports as an alleged rapist for legal reasons until October 2021 – six months after he had been charged. Despite Rowe not being named, people in political circles were very much aware of the charges against him before it was reported in the media.

Ms Manison was police minister at the time of Rowe’s arrest and her brother was also a witness at Rowe’s rape trial in September.

Ms Lambley said Ms Manison’s response was not believable.

“It is unlikely that close colleagues and friends of Rowe did not know anything at all about the allegations before it came out in the media,” she said.

“People close to him and the victim absolutely knew about the allegations. And that includes at least one or two Labor Members.”

Witness list for Rowe child rape trial included key Labor figures

Rowe was found guilty on six counts of sexual intercourse without consent by a Supreme Court jury in September for the historical sex crimes over a span of six years.

Chief Justice Michael Grant said in sentencing remarks that Rowe had expressed no remorse for his crimes and accepted no responsibility, acting in a way that should be a matter “of great shame to you although I suspect it isn’t”.

The witness list for Rowe’s trial involved some key Labor figures, including Nicole Manison’s brother, Mr Gunner’s former deputy chief of staff and brother-in-law Ryan Neve, his sister Kayla Neve Plunkett, Mr Gunner’s electorate officer Hannah MacLeod, current Labor secretary Karlee Dalton’s husband and party operative Robert Dalton, and Rowe’s wife and Darwin alderman Rebecca Want de Rowe.

However, Mr Neve and Ms MacLeod did not end up providing evidence at the trial after being scratched from the witness list.