EXCLUSIVE: Chief Minister Natasha Fyles secretly holds shares in the company that runs the Gemco manganese mine on Groote Eylandt, that she did not disclose to the public while refusing as Health Minister to investigate the suspected heavy metal poisoning of Indigenous Territorians on the island earlier this year, raising further integrity issues with her leadership and more undisclosed conflicts of interest, the NT Independent can reveal.

The NT Independent has seen verified copies of South32’s share register – the company that owns Gemco – which shows Ms Fyles currently holds 754 shares, while her parents also hold 400 shares in the company, which they all obtained in May 2015.

At no time has Ms Fyles disclosed those shares publicly.

Ministers are obligated under the NT ministerial code of conduct to divest any shares in companies that could present a conflict of interest with their ministerial duties, while also obliged to publicly disclose all shareholdings.

Ms Fyles told the public last month while defending her controversial Woodside Energy shares that she had “declared everything” on her Register of Members’ Interests and “regularly updated” her register to ensure any potential conflict of interest is managed and “so the public can see [the shareholdings]”.

While Ms Fyles declared on her register that she holds shares in mining company BHP and two of its spinoff companies, Arrium (formerly OneSteel) and BlueScope Steel, she inexplicably did not disclose the roughly $2,300 worth of shares in South32 – the one BHP spinoff that she has a direct conflict of interest in as a minister.

In March, Ms Fyles as Health Minister rejected calls to investigate high levels of heavy metals found in Indigenous residents near the Gemco mine. At no time did she disclose that she was a shareholder of the company that runs it.

One former island resident told the ABC she was afraid for her family’s health after seeing her young relatives affected by asthma and other health issues and that many in the community feared speaking out on the issue. Continued exposure to high levels of manganese can lead to damage of the lungs, liver and kidneys and can also cause neurological impairments, similar to Parkinson’s disease.

Ms Fyles flatly rejected investigating the health concerns of Indigenous people on the island and dismissed the high levels of heavy metals as “naturally occurring issues” despite a university study previously finding “concerningly high” levels of manganese in islanders’ hair and fingernail samples. Concerns were also raised months earlier about dangerous dust particles from the mine causing air pollution on the island.

At a press conference in March, Ms Fyles said the Gemco mine “has been in the community for a very long time and we make sure that there is the highest standards in terms of both environmental and public health”.

She was then asked by the ABC why the government refused to investigate after South32 admitted it had exceeded its dust allowances near the mine site for a period of time in the first half of 2022.

“I would have to get the specifics on that [admission],” she responded. “But what I can say is that across the Territory, there is strong regulation, there is strong monitoring, we do sometimes see naturally occurring issues.”

Ms Fyles refused to explain to the NT Independent how she could make a decision not to investigate serious public health issues while a shareholder of the company that runs the mine.

Ms Fyles also declined to state what other companies she holds shares in that she has not disclosed that could present more conflicts of interest with her ministerial duties.

She also refused to say why she never publicly disclosed the shares in South32, while disclosing other BHP spinoff companies as well as her shares in Woodside Energy, which she obtained through a merger of BHP’s petroleum arm in June 2022.

‘You have to declare every single potential conflict’: Fyles

Ms Fyles was forced to divest Woodside Energy from her shares portfolio last month, after the NT Independent reported that she had an undisclosed number of shares, in breach of the ministerial code of conduct, which she later said amounted to 169 shares worth roughly $5,400.

While defending the Woodside shares last month, Ms Fyles told ABC Darwin Radio that she had declared those shares on her public register because she was elected to Parliament.

“This may be news to your listeners,” she told presenter Jo Laverty, “[but] you have to declare everything from your family home to the fact you own a motor vehicle to the fact you might own a boat or a camper trailer.

“You have to declare every single potential conflict.

“And so I ensure that I do that and keep the registry up to date. And the reason why, Jo, is then the public can see and also we can manage those conflicts, and I manage conflicts in my role every single day, and have done for a long period of time.

“I declare everything and then each conflict is managed each and every day in the role that I have.

“In terms of my individual conflicts, they are well listed and have been on the parliamentary members register of interest since the moment I entered Parliament and as I said, I ensure I update that regularly.”

Ms Fyles refused to answer on Sunday if she was lying to the public when she said she had disclosed “everything” and updated her register regularly.

The Chief Minister has come under fire in recent weeks, first for the Woodside shares and most recently for hiring Gerard Richardson as her senior political adviser, whose consultancy company Brookline Advisory is the registered lobbyist for Tamboran Resources, a gas company the Fyles Government pre-approved to frack the Beetaloo Basin, while pledging government land for a massive LNG plant at the proposed Middle Arm industrial precinct.