EXCLUSIVE: The major ICAC investigation into the Territory Labor Government’s misuse of public funds for political campaigning during the 2020 election has been compromised, the NT Independent can reveal, after a Labor Party member and ICAC staffer intimately involved in the investigation failed to disclose two potential conflicts of interest.

The conflicts relate to the staffer’s political affiliations, as well as a personal relationship with a key witness in the investigation, who previously worked as a senior government adviser and who provided career advice to the staffer about working for the Territory Labor Government before he took the job with the Office of the ICAC.

The NT Independent revealed last week that lawyer and ICAC staffer Ben McCarthy is a member of the federal Labor Party, who campaigned for the party at last year’s May federal election and was hired by the Office of the ICAC three months later for unspecified legal duties.

The NT Independent understands Mr McCarthy did not disclose that potential conflict of interest upon commencing the role last August.

It can now be revealed that Mr McCarthy has worked extensively on the investigation into the Territory Labor Government’s alleged misuse of public funds and also failed to disclose a conflict of interest involving a witness interviewed as part of the investigation who was a key Labor Government adviser at the time of the questionable campaign trips.

Mr McCarthy was previously employed in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in 2022 before moving to the Office of the ICAC. While in that role, he worked with Abi Rajkumar, former chief minister Michael Gunner’s social media adviser, who left the government to take a job with the public prosecutor in early 2022.

Two sources have independently confirmed that Mr McCarthy had indicated his desire to work for the Territory Labor Government to Ms Rajkumar, resulting in Ms Rajkumar providing a “pros and cons” list for a career on the fifth floor of Parliament in the Territory Labor Government.

It is unclear if Mr McCarthy officially applied for a job with the Fyles Government before taking the job with the Office of the ICAC.

“It was surprising he went to the ICAC after talking extensively about wanting a job with the government,” one source with knowledge of the situation said.

The NT Independent understands the major investigation, which was launched more than a year ago, has involved interrogations of NT Labor ministers, political advisers, public servants and others in connection to the Labor Government’s alleged misuse of taxpayer money for flights and other activities during the caretaker period in the lead-up to the 2020 election, which was first exposed as part of an NT Independent special investigation in late 2021.

Mr McCarthy worked extensively on the investigation into allegations Mr Gunner, his brother-in-law Ryan Neve and others in the office – as well as other senior Labor ministers – inappropriately used taxpayer money for flights during the 2020 NT election for party political purposes.

Mr Gunner resigned as chief minister in May 2022, shortly before the ICAC’s investigation was made public.

Ms Rajkumar was on some of the campaign flights in question and was called to give evidence to the ICAC as a witness during the investigation, the NT Independent has confirmed.

There is no suggestion Ms Rajkumar engaged in inappropriate conduct.

The NT Independent sent questions to Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Michael Riches last week about Mr McCarthy’s political and personal affiliations.

Mr Riches initially downplayed Mr McCarthy’s membership with the Federal Labor Party, saying he believed he had only taken part in Federal Labor Party activities on federal election day 2022 and that as far as he was aware, Mr McCarthy had not had any dealings with Territory Labor.

However, Mr Riches refused to respond to the direct question of whether Ben McCarthy had disclosed his membership and campaigning with the federal branch of the ALP when he was hired, or at any time before the NT Independent sent questions on Tuesday.

Mr McCarthy promptly hung up the phone on the NT Independent when contacted for this story on Friday. He did not respond to emailed questions about his professional relationship with Ms Rajkumar or if he thought it could be perceived as a conflict of interest.

Mr Riches said ICAC meetings begin with a verbal request for those employees attending to declare any conflicts of interest, but would not say why Mr McCarthy would not have disclosed either his political or personal conflict with a witness.

“As I said in my media release on Wednesday, all existing staff members will this week be directed by me to complete a declaration disclosing any conduct that the staff member has engaged in that might be perceived to be supportive of a particular political party,” Mr Riches said. “Such a declaration will also become a yearly requirement, together with existing yearly conflict of interest and associations declarations that are already required.”

Mr Riches enacted the latest transparency measures in his office after the NT Independent revealed earlier this month that his office had hired a former Country Liberal Party operative as an investigator.

Mr Riches also did not appear to be aware of that staffer’s political connections, including that he was a member of the CLP executive management team as well as a campaigner and fundraiser for the party. He said last week that that employee had not been involved in any investigation, having been hired last month.

Mr Riches declined to provide a statement about hiring Ben McCarthy, but said he “is a bright young man who has performed very well as a junior lawyer in my office. He is on annual leave”.

He then referenced a section of the NT Public Sector Code of Conduct that forbids public servants from responding to the media about their duties without authorisation.

Ms Rajkumar left the Office of the DPP earlier this month to pursue education opportunities in the United States.

She declined to provide a comment for publication when contacted by the NT Independent over the weekend.

Mr Riches has been under intense public scrutiny after failing to produce any meaningful report into alleged corruption in the NT since taking over the role more than two years ago.

He has stated on different occasions after taking the role that the integrity of his office must be beyond reproach and that the public must have confidence in his office for it to be effective.

“Those who work in my office must act with the utmost integrity. I demand nothing less of myself and my staff,” he said in June 2021.

“Anyone who cannot or will not meet that expectation has no place in my team. Where allegations of impropriety are made about my staff or me, they will be taken seriously. It matters not to me who made the allegation or the circumstances in which the allegation is made. What matters to me is the integrity of this office, which must be above reproach.”

He declined to provide a comment about Mr McCarthy’s undeclared conflicts of interest and what effect it would have on the ongoing investigation.