Labor candidate for Fannie Bay Brent Potter’s LinkedIn profile was mysteriously blocked from public view shortly after Chief Minister Natasha Fyles hand-picked him as the preferred candidate, which a political expert says was most likely done to hide the candidate’s past.

Mr Potter, who is a senior adviser to Ms Fyles – and her chief of staff’s brother-in-law – was selected by Ms Fyles to run in the seat vacated by Michael Gunner late last month for the snap by-election which will be held August 20.

Mr Potter’s LinkedIn page, which contained his work history, was disabled hours before the official announcement of his preselection was made on July 29, but some time after Ms Fyles reportedly sent a letter to Labor’s administrative committee identifying Mr Potter as her Captain’s pick.

The party and Mr Potter have refused to say why the LinkedIn profile was deactivated.

University of Queensland political science professor Glenn Kefford said that political parties have been known to scrub or “cleanse” their candidates’ social media presence for different reasons ahead of an election.

“Depending on the circumstance, some parties do encourage candidates to cleanse their online profiles,” he said.

“If there’s any sense that there could be questions raised that could be problematic or especially newsworthy, they would be encouraged to reduce that digital footprint.”

As part of the vetting process, parties typically investigate a potential candidate’s online presence to establish if there are any historical comments in social media posts that could become problematic before officially selecting the candidate, Prof Kefford said.

Part of the reason for that is to “standardise the party’s messaging” and avoid potentially embarrassing or damaging social media posts resurfacing during a campaign.

Labor candidate and fifth floor staffer Brent Potter with his former boss Nicole Manison. PHOTO: Facebook

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they tried to reduce their candidate’s online footprint [before a by-election],” he said.

“It’s the nature of campaigning to present the candidate in the best way possible online and a desire to stay on message and to try and shape the campaign narrative, so that his past employment and connections aren’t the focus of the by-election when there’s increased attention.”

Mr Potter claimed in a brief biography on the Territory Labor website that he is a veteran of the Armed Forces and served for 10 years, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2012, working in Norforce upon his return to Australia.

“After leaving the army I worked in diverse range of fields [sic], from Aged Care, to defence manufacturing, to the public service and management consultancy – I have worked hard to diversify my knowledge and skill set, this includes the completion of my Master’s in Business [sic] from the University of New South Wales,” he wrote.

“But all along, I have felt something has been missing. I know where I belong, I know where my passions lie – and that is with serving the community – it is what I do best.”

The NT Independent understands Mr Potter became an adviser for Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Defence Industries Nicole Manison in late 2020, later moving to Michael Gunner’s office as an adviser where he remained in the role when Ms Fyles became Chief Minister in May.

He is married to Ms Fyles’ chief of staff Gabrielle Mappas’ sister.

Prof Kefford said Territory Labor would be more interested during the by-election period in carefully scripting their candidate’s image than providing facts to the public that could lead to further questions about his past.

“It can be a problem (for transparency),” he said.

“I think the reality is this is the nature of communications in this day and age (but) there will always be information around about your previous employment.”

Mr Potter and Territory Labor did not respond to the NT Independent’s questions, including what part of his work history led to the decision to deactivate his LinkedIn page.

The party has since created an “official” Facebook page for Mr Potter for the campaign period.