Man jailed for DVO breach Darius Plummer on staff of shadow Minister for DV Steve Edgington
Opposition domestic violence spokesman Steve Edgington is resisting calls to stand down after it was revealed he hired a man jailed for DV-related offences just two months prior.
Northern Territory
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Country Liberal Party domestic violence spokesperson Steve Edgington has resisted calls to resign, claiming he did not know the extent of his staffer’s criminal history.
Aboriginal Liaison Officer for the Barkly electorate office Darius Lee Plummer was suspended with pay on Wednesday morning after it was revealed he was jailed three times in the past four years for breaching bail and domestic violence orders.
Mr Plummer has also faced court on aggravated assault and strangulation charges, which were later dropped, and was last week convicted of high range drink driving.
The 43-year-old started working at Mr Edgington’s office in August, just a month after spending 31 days behind bars for two DVO breaches.
Mr Edgington said he would not have hired Mr Plummer had he known of his full criminal history, and the staffer’s employment had been suspended until a full police check could be carried out.
“I regard these matters as very serious and it’s important that we get to the bottom of it as soon as possible,” Mr Edgington said.
“I won’t be stepping down over the issue where I’ve acted appropriately … now that there’s further information which I was unaware of an investigation will be conducted, the proper process will be followed.
“The decision that I made at the time was him (Mr Plummer) having served his time for offences that he committed, he accepted responsibility.
“My decision was to give him an opportunity to work with me and to break the cycle of domestic violence.”
Mr Edgington said he expected Department of the Legislative Assembly hiring practices would be reviewed to avoid similar issues in the future.
“Certainly, I would recommend that criminal history checks form part of the employment process,” he said.
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro stood by Mr Edgington, saying he had taken “entirely appropriate action”.
“What’s most concerning is whether or not Mr Plummer failed to declare all of his criminal history at the time of his employment,” she said.
Labor has called for the Barkly MLA to stand down over the matter, insisting there was no hypocrisy in Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech and Police Minister Brent Potter retaining party support following their respective shareholding and social media post scandals.
“With Brent Porter these issues were five to 10 years ago, when he was not a public servant employee,” Chief Minister Eva Lawler said.
“If you are comparing some sharing of Facebook posts with somebody who has (allegedly) attempted to strangle (someone) … I think you actually really need to have a bipartisan look at this issue.”
Domestic Violence Minister Kate Worden said Mr Edgington must resign as a matter of “integrity”.
“He’s using a particular person in his office for political expediency to get himself out and about in Aboriginal communities, and he’s overlooked the criminal behaviour,” she said.
“It’s just a real shame that he can’t bring himself to think about the victims instead of his own need … it’s time for him to stand up and walk away.”
Earlier: Domestic violence related offender hired to DV shadow minister’s office
Opposition spokesperson for the prevention of domestic violence Steve Edgington hired a staffer who has served multiple jail sentences for domestic violence-related offences.
Darius Lee Plummer, an electorate officer for the Barkly MLA, has faced court dozens of times in recent years for charges including multiple counts of contravening a domestic violence order and breach of bail.
The 43-year-old was jailed for 31 days on June 6 last year for breach of DVO, before going on to join the Country Liberal Party team two months later on August 9.
Mr Plummer again faced the Tennant Creek court just eight days ago when he pleaded guilty to high range drink driving.
Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Minister Kate Worden said Mr Edgington’s position was “totally untenable”.
“It is beyond disgraceful for the CLP’s spokesperson on domestic violence to employ someone who has allegedly been to jail for domestic violence offences,” Ms Worden said.
“The CLP don’t care about protecting Territory women and children – they only care about playing politics.
“Mr Edgington’s position as the opposition’s spokesperson for domestic violence is totally untenable and Lia Finocchiaro needs to show leadership and sack Steve.”
Mr Edgington said while he had been aware of his staffer’s two recent DVO breaches, the extent of Mr Plummer’s criminal history was “new information to me”.
“I had a very lengthy discussion with Mr Plummer about those two matters – that was declared on his employment form, that was sent to the department – and as part of the employment process, we certainly considered those two matters very, very carefully,” he told Mix 104.9 on Wednesday morning.
“It was only yesterday that I was made aware of other offences that allegedly were committed.”
Mr Edgington said he understood the DVO breach charges were related to Mr Plummer consuming alcohol, rather than any violent offending.
Since joining the Barkly electorate office, Mr Plummer has been featured several times in social media posts with Mr Edgington, including one with Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro where the caption says they discussed “issues of women and children living in domestic violence situations”.
Mr Edgington has been an outspoken critic of how the government has handled the NT’s domestic violence crisis, particularly what he deems “insufficient” bail laws and an approach that “places the rights of offenders above those of victims”.
Outlining his policy position to the NT News last month, Mr Edgington said the surge of Aboriginal Territorians in prison for domestic violence-related charges was “a national tragedy”.
“Unlike Labor’s inaction, we are committed to implementing measures that prioritise safety and accountability,” he said.
Mr Plummer was also jailed for 35 days in 2021 after pleading guilty to contravening a DVO, and 14 days in 2022 for the same crime.
He previously had charges of choking, strangling or suffocating dismissed.
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