A day after the Chief Minister lost her cool on radio over a scheduled protest against the appointment of NT Administrator David Connolly on Friday, Speaker Robyn Lambley has shut the rally down citing security concerns for “the dignitaries involved”, but the Governor-General’s office said last night neither it or the AFP raised any concerns, with event organisers now looking for a new venue while pondering legal action against the government.

The order from the Speaker to ban the protest follows a misinterpretation of standing order 30 in Parliament earlier this month that was used to forbid any MLAs from mentioning Mr Connolly by name in the Chamber or asking any questions about the CLP’s process to appoint the former Tipperary Station manager to the vice-regal position as the King’s representative in the Northern Territory.

That led to the crossbench and Opposition walking out in protest, in what has become an ongoing political nightmare for Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, with pressure mounting on her to rescind the appointment following outrage from different sections of the community over Mr Connolly’s racist, sexist and homophobic social media posts and past speeches that were revealed in different media outlets last month.

Mr Connolly is due to be officially sworn in to the $377,000-a-year job at 9:30am Friday morning inside Parliament House, with Governor-General Sam Mostyn in town to preside over the induction.

Ms Lambley said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon that she received a request to hold “a demonstration or rally” outside Parliament House at the same time, but rejected it “as there is insufficient capacity to accommodate a demonstration alongside the official proceedings of the swearing-in ceremony”.

She added that she “fully supports” the rights of citizens to protest outside Parliament House.

“However, on this occasion all measures must be employed to ensure the security of the dignitaries involved and the staging of this official ceremony,” she wrote.

It was unclear if Ms Lambley was asked by Ms Finocchiaro to block the protest from occurring. Ms Finocchiaro’s current chief of staff Alex Bruce formerly worked for Ms Lambley.

The Governor-General’s office said last night it did not request the protest be cancelled.

“The Governor-General was not aware,” a statement said. “Neither her office nor AFP team made any requests.

“Any matters relating to security are a matter for the Speaker of the Northern Territory Parliament.”

Ms Lambley did not respond to calls last night.

The protest had irked Ms Finocchiaro, who said on Mix 104.9 on Monday that Mr Connolly “is the Administrator now and people should have some respect”.

She added she was not concerned “at all” that Mr Connolly is viewed as a divisive figure in the community for his social media commentary, including racially charged posts and multiple speeches in which Mr Connolly disrespected and mocked Aboriginal culture and language, at one point stating Aboriginal people were responsible for all the crime in the NT and that they had not done any good for the country, while also attacking trans people, joking about domestic violence and making various sexist comments about women.

“People can make mistakes, people can have personal views,” Ms Finocchiaro said, but did not explain why Mr Connolly has never acknowledged his comments as “mistakes” or made a public apology.

Labor Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said the banning of the protest, which she stated she would attend instead of the swearing-in ceremony, was an attack on Territorians’ rights.

“Important debate in Parliament was gagged only weeks ago to stop discussion about the CLP’s controversial Administrator appointment,” she said.

“Now Territorians’ right to gather peacefully outside Parliament is also being taken away.

“The CLP Government are desperately trying to manage the growing outcry from the community instead of addressing the concerns that have [been] raised.

“We all know this appointment is a political decision that Lia Finocchiaro needs to own. This move is not about security – it is about the CLP controlling how Territorians can demonstrate their democratic right at Parliament.”

Organisers of the rally, including Environment Centre NT director Kirsty Howey, said they were looking at alternative locations outside of the Parliament House precinct, including possibly Bennett Park for the protest.

Ms Howey also said they were assessing their legal options and there was talk of a possible legal challenge to the Speaker’s decision.

Parliament House and the areas outside, including the forecourt, Festival Lawn between Parliament House and the Supreme Court, the Mitchell Street carpark and Liberty Square will be closed to the public between 7:00am and 11:00am Friday morning for Mr Connolly’s swearing-in ceremony, Ms Lambley said.

The rally was scheduled for 8:30am and is expected to go ahead at possibly Bennett Park on Bennett Street outside the Parliament House precinct, but that had not been confirmed as of last night.