Disgraced former speaker Kezia Purick has refused to explain the details of how she convinced Big Tobacco to allegedly pay for her trip to South Korea to speak at an international industry conference promoting smoking and vaping, which may have breached an international convention.

The Guardian reported that Ms Purick was the first Australian politician to speak at a tobacco industry-funded conference in more than 10 years, which may have contravened an international World Health Organisation treaty that Australia has pledged to abide by that forbids public officials from fratenising with the tobacco industry.

Ms Purick refused to answer that newspaper’s questions and also refused to answer the ABC’s questions, but on Monday appeared on friend Katie Woolf’s Mix 104.9 radio show to suggest that she attended the conference to “learn” how to prevent smoking in the Northern Territory, especially in Indigenous communities, and to “enlighten” herself as to how she might respond “when and if” the NT Government introduces vaping laws.

However, that explanation was discounted by the head of public health at the University of Sydney Simon Chapman, who told ABC Radio Darwin that the conference was led by the key players involved in the “global tobacco industry movement”.

“It’s their annual shindig, if you like, where they work out, ‘how can we stop this rot that has set in with people giving up smoking? How can we oppose legislation which is no good for our business”,” he said. “And the latest thing, ‘how can we sell more vapes as well as more cigarettes’.”

“For a politician to go there when Australia is one of the 180 nations which has signed something called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is incidentally legally binding on each nation that signed it, is really quite amazing, quite disgraceful.”

Ms Purick told Ms Woolf that she allowed Big Tobacco to pay for her trip to South Korea because “they wanted to hear my views”, but did not elaborate on how they became aware of her views on vaping and tobacco.

“So, it was an opportunity that I wanted to take up, so I took it up,” she said.

Ms Purick added she can still remain independent on the issue of vaping and tobacco use despite having her trip paid for by the tobacco industry, while also suggesting she was provided with “gratuities and gifts”.

“I’ve been independent for the last eight or 10 years, I can take views on board,” she said. “I’ve recorded on my Register of [Members’] Interests in regards to receiving the gratuity and the gifts, so there’s nothing I’m hiding. The organisers paid for my trip.”

She was not asked about the breach of the WHO declaration.

In audio of her speech to the tobacco and vaping forum, Ms Purick can be heard telling the conference that the Cancer Council and the National Heart Foundation have opposed vaping, but suggested that “maybe they don’t have enough information, they don’t have enough evidence before them – I’m not sure”.

She later suggested to conference attendees that “prescription vaping can be a part of a solution to the issue [of smoking] in Aboriginal communities”, before adding again, “I’m not sure”.

She added that she does not regret attending the forum despite the criticism from health professionals, including the Australia Medical Association.

“I believe there’s more important things to worry about in our bloody community than me as an independent in a small jurisdiction attending a conference in Korea in regards to smoking or vaping,” she said.

Prof Chapman called for Ms Purick to be “admonished” by the Federal Government for the apparent breach of the international WHO treaty and again questioned her cover story for attending.

“If anyone is going to such a conference to pick up clues about how to cut Indigenous smoking, I mean, they must have come down in the last shower, because the mood up in those places is not one of how can we stop people smoking,” he said. “It’s how can we keep people smoking and how we can also encourage people to use vaping products.

“She should be admonished.

“The Australian Government has said that no government official, and by that they mean politicians or bureaucrats who work for governments, are allowed to have anything to do with the tobacco [industry].

“If she’s got no problem being up there, well, why not be fully transparent? Did she … stay in a swanky hotel, did she go to the big receptions with food and drink all laid on?”

Ms Purick’s Register of Members’ Interests will not be publicly released until next March, that she claimed will show how much she was gifted by the tobacco industry to attend the event.

She refused to answer the NT Independent’s questions, as well, including if she had taken her partner on the trip.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline.

Ms Purick resigned as speaker in June 2020 after an ICAC report found she engaged in “corrupt conduct” to prevent the establishment of a new political party.

The ICAC’s report found Ms Purick lied to the commissioner on three occasions, failed to report breaches of the ICAC Act as required and engaged in “anti-democratic” behaviour by using the resources of her taxpayer-funded office to further her own political goals.

She later sued former ICAC Ken Fleming and reportedly settled out of court, however, the report into her misconduct is still on the ICAC’s website, while it appeared Ms Purick was successful in preventing Mr Fleming from referring her to the DPP for charges in connection to that matter.