Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is “worried” about whether the CLP Government’s pick for Administrator David Connolly is “able to properly represent the Northern Territory in a way which is appropriate” but ruled out overturning the appointment on Tuesday, stating that Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s government must “explain and defend” its choice.

Mr Albanese was in Darwin for a brief visit yesterday, holding a press conference at Charles Darwin University on his way to Timor-Leste, where he was asked about the appointment of former NT Cattlemen’s Association president David Connolly as the NT’s next Administrator, amid calls from Indigenous leaders and others for the Prime Minister to revoke his appointment after Mr Connolly’s social media comments and past speeches were revealed by the media, which have been labelled racist, bigoted, reprehensible and offensive, targeting Aboriginal Territorians, women and transgendered people and mocking domestic violence.

In one shared post on social media platform X, Mr Connolly also compared Mr Albanese to a whale’s anus.

“I’m not worried about any comments about myself,” Mr Albanese said.

“I am worried about whether this person is able to properly represent the Northern Territory in a way which is appropriate. And my colleagues have made statements as Northern Territory representatives [about the appointment].

“This is a decision of the Northern Territory Government and the Northern Territory Government have to explain, and defend, why they think this person is appropriate.”

However, Ms Finocchiaro has gone into hiding since claiming she was not aware of the social media posts before announcing Mr Connolly as the next Administrator. Her office has refused to respond to questions since January 16 and all CLP MLAs contacted by the NT Independent last week refused to say if they supported Mr Connolly’s appointment, increasing the political pressure on Ms Finocchiaro to explain her decision to Territorians.

Asked why his government delayed the appointment of Mr Connolly by more than five months, Mr Albanese said Federal Cabinet’s approval was “just a process of agreeing to the recommendation” made by the NT Government. He was not asked when he first became aware of the social media comments.

“There is no precedent whatsoever for the Commonwealth intervening in such a way,” he said.

“It’s up to them to defend this decision – it’s not a decision that I would have made.”

In stating there is “no precedent” for the Federal Government to intervene in the Northern Territory’s affairs, Mr Albanese is forgetting or purposely excluding the Commonwealth’s Andrews Bill, which revoked the NT’s voluntary assisted dying legislation in 1997, and the 2007 Federal Intervention, as well as various other instances of the Commonwealth overruling NT powers during the war and post-Cyclone Tracy.

He was also asked at the press conference about his own government’s move to interfere in the Territory’s affairs by pledging to return the Darwin Port to Australian ownership after the previous CLP NT government leased the port to Chinese-owned Landbridge Group for 99 years in 2015.

Mr Albanese replied that his government intervened because the lease of the Darwin Port was “not in…our national interests”, which now necessitates Commonwealth intervention, adding that “commercial negotiations are continuing” to “ensure it comes back to Australian hands”.

Despite refusing to answer questions for weeks or explain why she appeared to lie to the public about her knowledge of Mr Connolly’s offensive social media posts, Ms Finocchiaro’s office issued a statement to the ABC on Tuesday, stating that Mr Connolly’s swearing-in as the next Administrator is still scheduled for February 27.

Independent MLA Justine Davis said on Tuesday Mr Connolly is “clearly the wrong person for the job” and called on Ms Finocchiaro to “immediately rescind his appointment and commence a proper, transparent process to appoint a new Territory Administrator”.

“This appointment has already caused harm and deepened division,” she said. “The failure of the Chief Minister to meaningfully address public concern about the appointment is astonishing yet unsurprising.

“It also highlights the continuation of a worrying trend under the CLP of powerful appointments made without proper scrutiny or accountability.”