CLP Government ministers were unable to provide simple answers in Parliament about basic NT public service code of conduct conditions while the Labor Opposition bombarded ministers with veiled questions about the appointment of David Connolly as Administrator after being shut down by the Speaker, who forbade any mention of Mr Connolly’s name, while attempting to move a motion calling for his revocation.

The political fallout from Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s controversial pick for Administrator drew all CLP members into it in Parliament on Tuesday, with Cabinet members caught in farcical scenes trying to avoid questions by claiming any mention of Mr Connolly was a “personal attack” on him while Ms Finocchiaro refused to explain the vetting process for the role.

The start of Question Time was delayed after the Opposition announced they intended to bring the revocation motion tomorrow given Mr Connolly’s past offensive social media comments that mocked domestic violence victims, disparaged women, transgender people and Aboriginal Territorians, also calling for the Chief Minister to “accept responsibility for a decision that has undermined trust in the Territory’s democratic and constitutional institutions”.

Speaker Robyn Lambley ruled the motion out of order, citing a standing order which she said forbids any elected Member of the NT Legislative Assembly from being “disrespectful” to or about the head of state’s representative.

But she appeared to interpret that order to mean that no utterance of Mr Connolly’s name could be made while the CLP attempted to use the standing order to avoid any responsibility for the appointment, with CLP Leader of Government Business Steve Edgington claiming “that very motion shows disrespect for His Honour, the Administrator”.

Mr Connolly was “commissioned” to the $377,000-a-year Administrator job on Sunday, meaning he is getting paid and has taken up residence at Government House with a private chef, but only has “limited powers” until he is officially sworn-in by the Governor-General on February 27. Chief Justice Michael Grant is currently responsible for the executive functions of the role until Mr Connolly is properly sworn in, which means the NT currently has two administrators.

Independent Member for Johnston Justine Davis was finally able to have her notice of motion accepted by removing Mr Connolly’s name, despite the CLP’s constant objections and Mr Edgington’s remarkable claim at one point that no reference could be made to “community concerns” about his appointment.

Ms Davis’s notice of motion called “on the Chief Minister, in response to widespread community concern, to request that the Governor-General review the process of general appointment of administrators of the Northern Territory”.

It was accepted by the Speaker, but could be shut down by the government later.

When Question Time finally kicked off, Labor started a series of questions to ministers about how they handle public service code of conduct violations if a senior public servant made offensive comments on social media. It began with Minister for Equality Jinson Charls.

“The public sector code of conduct requires senior public servants to uphold equality, inclusion, and respect, and to avoid conduct that could reasonably be seen as discriminatory,” said Labor Leader Selena Uibo.

“Where a senior public servant’s comments are said to undermine respect for women or LGTBQ+ Territorians, does this raise a conflict with the government’s equality commitments and what does this mean for their suitability to hold a senior government role?”

Mr Charls asked for the entire question to be repeated, then said he did not know how to respond and needed “more context”.

The next question went to Mr Edgington as Aboriginal Affairs Minister from Deputy Opposition Leader Dheran Young, who asked how suitable a person would be for a senior public service role in Mr Edgington’s department if they “dismiss Aboriginal cultural practices or question the legitimacy of Aboriginal land management”.

Mr Edgington said he was not able to answer “hypothetical” questions, adding “I don’t know what he’s getting at”.

Labor MLA Chansey Paech directed the next question to Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby, asking what the process is for a member of the judiciary found to have made disparaging comments about Aboriginal Territorians.

“My question to this government is, is that process still in place, or given recent appointments, has that changed?” he said.

Ms Boothby said she could “see a bit of a pattern” with the questions, but then said she thought the series of questions were somehow attacks on “our hard-working public servants”.

“If they have a case of where things have gone awry, then share that so we can actually answer these questions,” she said.

Chief Minister refuses to explain vetting process for Administrator

Ms Davis asked Ms Finocchiaro to explain what the vetting process was for the Administrator, which was allowed by the Speaker because she did not name Mr Connolly.

Ms Finocchiaro refused to explain the process and instead gave a rundown of his experience as president of the NT Cattlemen’s Association, again stating that he is somehow going to help the government grow the economy and that she was “excited” that he started in the role despite not being able to fulfil all functions of it.

“Some people will be very, very familiar with His Honour given his experience, but I merely seek to put on the record his background and commitment to the Northern Territory and the fact that we as a government are very much looking forward to his commencement,” she said.

Ms Finocchiaro added that “there are federal vetting processes”.

“The Minister has to sign off on it, the Governor General has to sign off on it, the Northern Territory makes this submission,” she said.

Ms Finocchiaro then refused to make that submission public.

Ms Davis later said that the Chief Minister’s refusal to explain the vetting process was “deeply unsatisfactory”.

“Like many Territorians, I cannot accept that a person with a long and well-documented history of publicly making deeply offensive, discriminatory, and demeaning statements targeting women, First Nations people, and gender-diverse communities, could have passed any credible vetting process for appointment as the King’s representative and as a key constitutional and oversight figure in the Northern Territory,” she said outside Parliament.

“This role demands the highest standards of integrity, judgment and respect for all Territorians. Community confidence in the office of Administrator matters, and right now, that confidence has been seriously undermined.”

Ms Davis said she has sought a meeting with Governor-General Sam Mostyn and would “reiterate the strong and growing calls” for the Federal Government to “rescind Mr Connolly’s commission before his appointment later this month”.

Ms Uibo later moved a censure motion against Ms Finocchiaro for her “failure to conduct a thorough vetting process for a key Territory appointment”.

“This is not about the individual,” she said.

“This is about the Chief Minister’s lack of judgment on behalf of Territorians, her failure to ensure that even the most basic standards that Territorians expect of their government have not been met.”

The CLP quickly used its numbers to shut the censure motion down.