ANALYSIS: Territory Labor has shown once again it is unable to clear the air amid a scandal and take the necessary steps to restore confidence in the party and government, choosing instead to take the cover-up and lie approach that always leaves a lingering stench and this time has raised some truly uncomfortable questions.

The party’s president and leader both failed to live up to community expectations this week when video emerged of Labor staffer and Young Labor president Harvie Stiller with a $50 bill shoved up his nose inhaling cut lines of a white powdery substance that appeared to be cocaine.

The video harkened back to unresolved allegations of a drug culture festering for years in the party and across the fifth floor of Parliament that the Chief Minister refused to investigate despite credible allegations.

And it was reminiscent as well, of the ongoing allegations of a cover-up that remain around the Labor cocaine sex scandal last year, which is still being sifted through because the party and the Chief Minister’s Office were not upfront with the public.

But there appears to be a much more sinister culture in Territory Labor at play these days and that’s an outright ‘accept-no-responsibility-for-our-actions’ and ‘cover-it-up-at-all-costs’ mentality that is quickly suffocating the party and divorcing it from its core Labor values.

Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling, to his credit, read the snorting video situation right away and cut ties with Mr Stiller shortly after receiving questions from the NT Independent about the video this week, telling this publication that Stiller had resigned.

Luke Gosling with NT Young Labor president Harvie Stiller.

Mr Gosling has an imminent federal election to contend with and having a staffer on video snorting potentially illegal white substances and then having his mates share it on social media isn’t going to be a big vote winner in the wider community.

Territory Labor, on the other hand, has no idea what standards they’re meant to live up to anymore and that comes from the top.

It’s also raised questions about why they won’t take action to clear the air.

It’s been a steady, slow descent for years, which has accelerated during the Gunner Government’s time in office of late, with the party continually condoning misconduct and bad behaviour – in some cases actively covering it up – that has upset some long-time members who can’t find many similarities between the current NT Labor Party and the party that Clare Martin took to its first NT election victory in 2001.

Gunner was forced to respond to questions about the latest drug scandal in Parliament this week, but instead of taking action to cut the scandal off at the knees, he suggested that since the alleged drug use occurred “18 months ago”, it wasn’t an issue and should be forgotten.

He then complained that the CLP were spending too much parliamentary time asking if he or the party would be kicking the Young Labor president out for his actions.

If Gunner truly wanted to cut the CLP off and get back to debating more important issues for Territorians, all he had to say was: “This type of behaviour will not be tolerated by the party or my government and this person will be suspended from his role while we investigate and we will refer the matter of potential illegal drug use to the police”.

That’s how you kill a political scandal and take the ammunition out of the Opposition’s hands while clearing the air. But that would have taken real leadership and can only be pulled off if you don’t have anything to hide.

So, instead of cutting it off and moving on, Labor has handled it the way they have all their scandals: by not accepting any responsibility, seeking to blame others and hoping it all just goes away.

And this time, the party’s inaction on even a low-ranking member raises more questions and keeps the dark cloud hovering and bad smell lingering.

Why would Harvie Stiller resign from his position in Luke Gosling’s office but not resign from his role as president of Young Labor?

Is the party afraid of what he might say or disclose if they move to expel him?

Are they afraid he has information on other members or staffers that might come to light?

The party is backing Mr Stiller for reasons they can’t be bothered properly explaining to the public or their own members and refused to respond to questions all week, such as whether Mr Stiller’s actions are reflective of the party’s youth members’ values or where he obtained the white powder he was snorting.

Party president refuses to comment, then provides talking points to journalist to repeat on radio

Party president Erina Early refused to comment to any media except the NT News (and apparently not for attribution in print), whose political reporter was more than happy to recite the party’s unchallenged lines on radio after applying no journalistic rigour, making him a de facto spokesman for the party.

Thomas Morgan told Mix 104.9’s ‘Week That Was’ program on Friday that the party would not be investigating the matter and that Mr Stiller would remain president of Young Labor – news that was never reported in print or online and apparently only known to party executive committee members.

NT News political reporter Thomas Morgan

“He hadn’t registered as a formal member of Territory Labor and was not yet working in Gosling’s office [when the video was made],” Mr Morgan said.

“The alleged incident happened before he was a member of Labor, before he was president of Young Labor. I think the party, and I’m happy to be corrected, but I think that they’re not going to look into it.”

Even Mr Gunner didn’t go as far as suggesting Mr Stiller was not a member of the party in his reasons for not investigating the incident.

Mr Morgan then said that he had determined that Mr Stiller had “paid the price” by losing his staffer job, that he was “probably suffering” as a result of his actions being made public and that the matter should be closed with him remaining in his party position.

The claim that he was not “a formal member” and the implication that he was therefore not involved with the party at the time he was filmed snorting what appeared to be cocaine are contradicted by numerous photos posted to Labor’s Facebook page showing Mr Stiller actively campaigning with senior Labor figures during the 2020 election – two months before the video was made – and attending an invite-only Anthony Albanese function less than two weeks after the snorting video.

These are what the party and its journo/spokesman call inconvenient facts that they, for some reason, refuse to accept or report.

Mr Stiller was very much involved in the party at the time of the video, which is what makes it all the worse for the party and raises those questions of what he knows, and provides the potential answer for why the party won’t move on him on an issue that’s a no-brainer to end a political scandal.

Lying to cover-up misconduct and not reporting all the facts is not a good look on anyone, especially the ruling political party and their media friends.

Independent MLA Robyn Lambley summed it up best this week when she suggested the Territory Labor Party was now run by drug users and perverts. It’s been a long fall from grace for Labor, but that’s politics, where perception is everything, and that has to be the takeaway. Druggies and perverts and those who cover-up their mates’ wrongdoing, presumably out of fear of what else might come out if one of them is finally held accountable, are the people calling the shots now with no regard for the party’s standards or its future.

Labor’s problem is that they continue to put the individual ahead of the party, even over a case of potential illegal drug use.

Restoring the party’s good name, if any of those “formal members” is interested in that, becomes much harder every time the party and its leader fail to show leadership or accept responsibility.

Christopher Walsh is the editor of the NT Independent and formerly held roles as senior political reporter at the NT News and investigations producer at ABC Darwin. He is also co-author of Crocs in the Cabinet: An Instruction Manual on How Not to Run a Government.