EXCLUSIVE: Tourism Minister and Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby’s chief of staff worked for Alastair Shields at the Darwin Waterfront Corporation for more than a decade before being seconded to Ms Boothby’s office last August, the NT Independent can reveal, raising questions about the Minister’s office’s ability to objectively review a “briefing” the Minister requested into concerns of improper conduct at the taxpayer-funded corporation.
The CLP Minister responsible for the Darwin Waterfront Corporation has balked at ordering an external investigation into possible misuse of public resources and unresolved conflicts of interest at the taxpayer-funded organisation, choosing instead to keep the matter internal, while questions have also been raised about conflicts of interest with the ICAC and the DWC’s chief executive.
EXCLUSIVE: Senior government executive Andrew Kirkman advocated for a pay rise for Darwin Waterfront Corporation CEO Alastair Shields, despite various conflicts of interest and while he was acting head public servant, six months before the DWC hired Mr Kirkman’s wife for an unadvertised role on a hefty pay packet, a secret government memo obtained by the NT Independent has revealed.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has caused confusion with her public remarks about the five lying officers who misled a coronial inquest over their involvement in racist TRG awards, telling Parliament today that they are currently under an NT Police “internal review”, but later saying “this matter is closed” when asked what action she is taking as Police Minister to clean up the mess.
There may be a review currently ongoing that includes the Director of Public Prosecution’s questionable hiring practices, involving his son and daughter-in-law being hired for unadvertised jobs, Attorney-General Marie Clare Boothby says, and there may not be, but she stressed “nothing is off the table” when asked directly if she is reviewing the questionable appointments.
The ICAC’s report into Police Commissioner Michael Murphy’s improper conduct in hiring a mate for a senior police executive role has contradicted Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s account of events, raising more questions about why she chose not to take any action against the commissioner for more than a week and initially remained silent on the scandal.
EXCLUSIVE: Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro maintained yesterday that she was not aware Acting Police Commissioner Martin Dole was on the same tainted hiring panel as Michael Murphy until Monday, but the NT Independent can reveal she was informed of the matter on Saturday, during a discussion with the NT Police Association concerning her appointment of Mr Dole to the top job and likely knew about it before then.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has finally ordered an independent inquiry into executive appointments in the NT Police, despite claiming two days ago that she had no concerns about cronyism in the police force, with all executives appointed by disgraced commissioner Michael Murphy remaining in their roles while the inquiry is carried out.
ANALYSIS: The Chief Minister’s handling of the ongoing Murphy scandal undermines the confidence every Territorian needs to have in its highest elected official and in its police commissioner, raising serious questions about her lack of action. The cover-up is always worse than the crime, as this debacle proves again.
The NT Police Association has called for Police Commissioner Michael Murphy to resign, following revelations he engaged in misconduct and failed to manage a serious conflict of interest by hiring a mate for a senior role, which has “ignited widespread frustration and anger” within the police rank-and-file, who are once again questioning the integrity of their leadership.
Police Commissioner Michael Murphy is the “senior public officer” the ICAC found engaged in improper conduct by hiring a mate for a senior role in the NT Police, but he has refused to resign, despite the findings that his actions amounted to “negligence and incompetence”.
Not a single Country Liberal Party MLA has moved to call out improper conduct at the highest levels of the public service and their government’s failure to take action on an ICAC report that found the head of a major agency engaged in “negligence and incompetence” by appointing a friend to a job – with the silence particularly deafening from the party’s ministerial team, who are obligated to uphold the “highest standards of integrity” and “ensure public confidence” in government.
