Embattled Labor MLA Manuel Brown will remain in Labor’s shadow cabinet despite repeatedly lying to the public and Leader Selena Uibo about his indiscretions, while it appears Labor’s caucus has failed to take any disciplinary action against him contradicting Ms Uibo’s claims it would determine punishment for Mr Brown.

Ms Uibo was heavily criticised for poor leadership over her handling of the Brown scandal earlier this month that festered for weeks, with federal Member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour eventually calling on Ms Uibo to “show some leadership” and strip Mr Brown of his shadow portfolios.

Instead, Ms Uibo removed Mr Brown as Opposition whip and put the onus of fully disciplining Mr Brown on the caucus as a whole to determine, which her office declined to explain on Monday, while also dodging questions about why none of the Territory Labor team were invited to attend public events with the Prime Minister while he was in the Territory last week.

Ms Uibo left today for a month-long holiday to unknown overseas destinations.

The NT Independent first revealed in June that Mr Brown lost his licence for three months late last year for racking up multiple speeding fines, which both he and Ms Uibo hid from the public. It was later revealed Mr Brown was issued another speeding violation in February after his licence was reinstated, which he reportedly did not tell Ms Uibo about. He killed a woman in a car crash in 2009 that he has also repeatedly lied about and failed to disclose after being preselected in 2023.

It was also later revealed that Mr Brown allowed two of his underage and unlicensed children to drive his vehicle, which Ms Uibo first denied publicly, but later suggested he had not told her about. He also came under scrutiny for claiming a $450 a night travel allowance for staying at least half his time in his own Palmerston home outside of his electorate of Arafura.

Despite lying to the public and the leader numerous times, Ms Uibo has continued to back Mr Brown and said the caucus would determine disciplinary actions at its caucus meeting during last week’s parliamentary sittings.

The NT Independent understands Mr Brown finally completed the five-hour online driver training module he committed to undertaking last Monday, roughly a month after committing to it. Ms Uibo’s office sent proof of completion after the NT Independent requested it, which shows Mr Brown completed the Roads and Traffic Education (RATE) Program on July 20.

Ms Scrymgour said on Mix 104.9 earlier this month that removing Mr Brown as Opposition whip, which comes with $27,000 in extra salary, was insufficient punishment from Ms Uibo.

“This is her responsibility,” Ms Scrymgour said. “I don’t think the sanctions go far enough, but that’s a matter for her.

“I think that Manuel should have been completely stripped of his portfolios as well. The consequences have to reflect [what he did] because what has happened doesn’t pass the pub test and people want transparency.

“Selena needs to provide those answers in an honest way to Territorians.”

Ms Uibo’s office did not provide those answers again on Monday, including if caucus discussed the Brown scandal at all or simply reshuffled the shadow portfolios. A full list of the new responsibilities can be found here, which shows recently ousted former deputy Dheran Young does not hold any shadow portfolios with Mr Brown responsible for nine, including People, Sport and Culture, as well as Veterans and Volunteers.

Ms Uibo’s office issued a statement over the weekend to announce she would be on leave from July 27 to August 24 for a “pre-planned holiday to attend a family event”. They would not say where but later confirmed her travel is overseas.

Acting Leader Ed Smelt said in an email Monday that Mr Brown was removed as Opposition whip, “which carries a direct financial penalty and had also completed the RATE program including paying the cost personally”. He did not explain if caucus discussed further options.

“[Mr Brown] is focused on earning back the trust of Territorians, working hard in his electorate and undertaking his shadow portfolio responsibilities,” Mr Smelt said.

Despite publicly criticising Ms Uibo for her poor handling of the Brown scandal and her attempt to cover up the speeding tickets, the CLP inexplicably did not refer Mr Brown to the Privileges Committee during parliamentary sittings last week.

However, political observers suggested that could be because the CLP did not want to face questions over why they would refer Mr Brown to the disciplinary committee for his conduct but not Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro for blatantly misleading the Estimates Committee last month when she falsely claimed the Justice Alan Blow report into NT Police recruitment processes only offered two recommendations when it clearly provided six.

It means now that neither party is capable of publicly holding the other to account for its members’ misconduct.

Territory Labor’s five-person caucus remains deeply divided, with political observers suggesting Ms Uibo’s handballing of disciplinary action to caucus suggested she is not confident she has the numbers to control it. Speculation over her future as leader has also been raised in recent weeks.

Ms Scrymgour previously said the Brown scandal was “not good for the Australian Labor Party”.

The NT Independent understands Ms Uibo and her Territory Labor team were not invited to attend events with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese while he was in Darwin and in Mr Brown’s electorate last week.

Mr Smelt did not explain why no Territory Labor MLA appeared with the Prime Minister at public events, but said Ms Uibo met with him privately during his visit to the Territory.