Health, education and treasury CEO shake ups in major NT public service restructure

As the new Territory cabinet is sworn in, the government has wasted no time restructuring the public service – including several changes in leadership. FULL LIST.

Fia Walsh

@fiawalsh

3 min read

September 10, 2024 - 4:33PM

Northern Territory

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Six new agencies have formed and several department heads shuffled on in a major restructure to the Northern Territory public service.

As the new Cabinet was sworn in on Tuesday, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the machinery of government changes would help ministers deliver on the Country Liberal Party’s election commitments.

The new Northern Territory Cabinet was officially sworn in at Government House in Darwin on Tuesday. Picture: Supplied/Jayden O’Neill

Education chief executive Karen Weston has been removed, to be replaced by her former deputy Susan Bowden.

Marco Briceno was also ousted as head of Health after overseeing a more than $240m budget blow out last financial year.

Assistant Under-Treasurer Tim McManus was promoted to Under-Treasurer, replacing Craig Graham who will take a “strategic advisory role” to support the development of the Middle Arm industrial precinct.

Former Industry, Tourism and Trade boss Shaun Drabsch has also departed after announcing his retirement earlier this year.

Andrew Kirkman will head up the new Agriculture and Fisheries Department, while Infrastructure Commissioner Louise McCormick will move into his old job as Infrastructure Department chief.

Dr Marco Briceno. Picture: Floss Adams.

Karen Weston. Picture: Sierra Haigh

Mrs Finocchiaro is yet to announce who will serve as Territory Coordinator – a new role aimed at fast-tracking major projects.

In departmental changes, Corrections is now a stand-alone agency, incorporating Youth Justice which has moved out of Territory Families.

Planning has also moved from Infrastructure to a new Lands, Planning and Environment portfolio.

Hospitality and Tourism now share a portfolio - a move welcomed by Hospitality NT for “clear structure and reporting lines”.

“Aligning tourism, hospitality, events, racing, licensing and parks all with the one minister means as an industry we can get on with increasing our economic contribution and growing jobs for Territorians,” chief executive Alex Bruce said.

The new Northern Territory Cabinet. Picture: Supplied/Jayden O’Neill

Mrs Finocchiaro said the widespread structural changes were important to “have an agile public service, able to better make decisions”.

“We will certainly be having a system where we go back to a specialised public service, build capacity in our own people, and I’ve been very clear to CEOs that this is about growing our own,” she said.

“We are aligning our public sector structures with our government’s top priorities, building a stronger, more specialised public service with technical expertise within smaller departments, empowering quicker and informed decisions that are made closer to the ground.

“Ken Davies, CEO of the Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet is experienced and knowledgeable and will provide sure footing to implement the machinery of government changes and our reform agenda.”

Mrs Finocchiaro said several reforms would be pushed through on urgency when parliament first convened.

The signature piece of legislation for week one of parliament will be Declan’s Law, reforms tightening bail laws across a range of offences.

NT chief minister Lia Finocchiaro with NT police commissioner Michael Murphy and Ken Davies, CEO of the Department of Chief Minister - both keeping their jobs under the new government. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

Mrs Finocchiaro defended a lack of Indigenous representation in her team, arguing her proposed reforms to local government would empower bush communities.

“This has been our commitment to predominantly Aboriginal people living in remote and very remote communities, to address the total loss of leadership they felt when Labor amalgamated their community government councils into super-shires,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.

“That work will now be able to commence, where we are out consulting on the ground with people living in the bush about what that new style of local government means and looks like for them.”

Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said she respected the new government would have its “own vision” for the NT, but said she did not want to see change “just for opposition’s sake”.

Ms Uibo called for Local Decision Making with communities agreements to be honoured amid any local government reforms.

“We don’t want to see the Territory and Aboriginal Territorians punished essentially for the way that they voted,” she said.

“We want to make sure that it doesn’t matter where you live in the Northern Territory, if you live in the bush, if you live in our regional centres, or if you live in our urban centres, that you’re heard by our government loud and clear.”

FULL LIST: Agencies and their chief executives

Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet (CMC) – Ken Davies PSM