EXCLUSIVE: Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s office orchestrated taxpayer-funded election campaign trips to marginal electorates approved by the Chief Minister’s brother-in-law, in breach of rules that prevent the misappropriation of public funds, an NT Independent investigation has uncovered.
The Independent Commissioner Against Corruption has ruled out reinvestigating improper conduct allegations against two senior Chief Minister’s department executives over the manipulation of a procurement contract, despite the NT Independent revealing an internal government report that raised questions about the ICAC’s previous findings.
EXCLUSIVE: The NT Administrator’s husband Craig O’Halloran signed off on a flawed government procurement contract after two senior Department of Chief Minister executives altered the scores of tenderers to ensure a favoured company was successful, the NT Independent can reveal.
EXCLUSIVE: One of three controversial contracts awarded to an interstate hiring firm for executive-level recruitment to the NT public service – that ultimately sparked investigations into alleged misconduct in the highest ranks of the Department of Chief Minister – was to fill the role of police commissioner, the NT Independent understands.
EXCLUSIVE: A scathing report by the NT’s Buy Local Advocate has raised serious questions about the ICAC’s investigation into improper conduct allegations against two Department of Chief Minister senior executives accused of manipulating a major procurement contract.
EXCLUSIVE: A senior executive in the Chief Minister’s Department who was investigated by the corruption watchdog for unsatisfactory conduct had access to the ICAC Inspector’s email account and sensitive documents before she was investigated, the NT Independent can reveal.
NT Racing Minister Natahsa Fyles has refused to say if the Gunner Government will seek to recover the $12 million grandstand funding from the Darwin Turf Club despite the Chief Minister vowing to get the money back, while Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said grants should not be ‘clawed back” from community organisations.
EXCLUSIVE: Chief Minister Michael Gunner convinced Cabinet to approve $12 million of taxpayer money for the Darwin Turf Club by taking the decision “out of certain people’s hands”, a Turf Club board member and friend of Mr Gunner’s told the board just days after the grant was approved, recordings from the meeting reveal.
Serious questions have been raised over how an NT Government investigation ordered by Chief Minister Michael Gunner into the $12 million Darwin Turf Club grandstand scandal did not turn up any instances of suspicious conduct or raise any alarm bells, given the material reported in the NT Independent’s recent special investigation series.
Darwin Turf Club chairman Brett Dixon advised his board to seek money from Thoroughbred Racing NT – another taxpayer-funded body he is the chair of – to cover an increase in costs of the Silks lounge, a project his construction company was carrying out works on, internal Turf Club documents obtained by the NT Independent reveal.
The Darwin Turf Club’s major players, including those who sat on the panel that selected Jaytex as the winning contractor for the $12 million grandstand project, had serious conflicts of interest, some of which do not appear to have been disclosed, the NT Independent can reveal.
EXCLUSIVE: The majority of the Darwin Turf Club’s board of directors were nervous about public backlash, and some feared a corruption investigation, but they unanimously approved giving chairman Brett Dixon’s company the $12 million taxpayer-funded grandstand contract anyway, internal club records obtained by the NT Independent show.
