NT Independent editor Christopher Walsh has been named as a finalist in the 69th Walkley Awards for his political shares scandal reporting that led to the resignation of a chief minister, the second year in a row the paper has been shortlisted in Australia’s pre-eminent national journalism awards.

NT Labor’s Ministerial Shares Scandal, a series by Walsh about ministerial code of conduct and conflict of interest failures related to shares owned by now former Labor government members, is a finalist in Scoop of the Year category.

Other finalists in that category are Nick McKenzie, Michael Bachelard, and Amelia Ballinger from The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, and 60 Minutes, for The Pezzullo Files, about Department of Home Affairs former secretary Mike Pezzullo, and Chris Reason of 7 News, for The Bishop of Broome, about Christopher Saunders, who was accused of multiple counts of sexual abuse of minors.

Walsh’s ministerial shares scandal reporting also made him a finalist in the Text: Best News Coverage category in the NT Media Awards, which will be held tomorrow night.

Territory journalist Kylie Stevenson, is also a finalist in the Walkley Awards Indigenous Affairs category, for her entry with Caroline Graham and Tilda Colling for their series in The Australian, NT Schools in Crisis, which was about failures in the NT education system.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles was forced to resign in late December following Walsh revealing her secret shareholdings in South32, which runs the Groote Eylandt manganese mine, which she refused as Health Minister to investigate earlier in 2023, after health issues suspected to be related to the mine were raised by Indigenous Territorians.

Walsh also revealed Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech personally invested in a liquor wholesale company that supplies alcohol to Alice Springs bottle shops two months before his Labor government controversially permitted Intervention-era grog bans on remote communities to lapse in 2022.

Labor Minister Brent Potter was also revealed to have privately purchased shares in an NT government-backed “major project” while employed as a senior adviser to the minister responsible for the project in 2021, which a leading integrity expert said was “just wrong” and raised serious concerns about the potential use of sensitive government information for personal financial interests.

NT Independent Acting Editor David Wood said Walsh being named as a finalist for the second year running showed his impact in both public life in the Northern Territory but also in Australian journalism, which was unusual for a Territory-based journalist.

“This is recognition of his intelligence, his courage, his drive, his persistence, his integrity, his attention to detail and his refusal to accept the morass of political entanglement and entitlement, and worse, that often weighs down the Territory,” Wood said.

“Although it might sound boring in a Reddit and Instagram-inspired journalism world, Walsh is deeply interested in the proper functioning of government and has an innate ability to sense integrity and process failings and worse in a way most other journalists can’t.

“It is a Spiderman-journalism thing.

“In his note to the public when he started the NT Independent in early 2020, he wrote that independence was vital in how a newspaper operates and is at the heart of our mission to provide Territorians with unfettered access to stories, telling their stories without outside influence.

“He said the paper would not be accepting NT government advertising because our reporting would involve uncovering corruption in the NT government and holding politicians and senior public servants accountable, and we felt we could not do that in good faith while getting paid by them.

“Being a finalist for his reporting on the ministers and their individual share scandals proves the paper is the fulfilling the promise.”

Last year the NT Independent was the only independent local news agency in the country named as a finalist for the 68th Walkley Awards, along the likes of ABC Four Corners, Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, The Monthly, The Australian, Network 10 and Spotlight.

Walsh and Wood were nominated in the All Media: Coverage of Community and Regional Affairs category for their investigative series Fatal Failures: Behind the Scenes of the Zach Rolfe Affair.

The special investigation raised troubling questions about the integrity of the NT Police executive and the NT’s criminal justice system in the aftermath of the heavily publicised Supreme Court murder trial of Rolfe, which resulted in legal threats against Walsh and Wood and surveillance by the police.

Walkley Foundation Chief Executive Shona Martyn said it was an extraordinary year for news, both locally and internationally.

“The finalists in the 69th Walkley Awards reflect the fine work produced by Australian reporters, commentators, photographers, camera operators, cartoonists, podcasters, authors and documentary-makers on these matters of immense public interest,” Ms Martyn said.

“In every category, the quality of the finalists is high which made the first round judging process challenging.

“It is an immense honour to be named as a Walkley finalist. Good luck to all who have made it to this point.”

Ms Martyn said there were more than 1,400 entries received across 30 categories, and winners will be announced at a gala dinner at the Sydney International Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday November 19.

To see all the finalists visit the Walkley Awards website.

READ: More hidden shares revealed: Fyles blocked investigation into mine she holds undisclosed shares in

READ: Chansey Paech’s shares in grog distribution company revealed

READ: REVEALED: Potter bought shares in ‘major project’ while ministerial adviser