Labor MP says sorry, pays costs for accusations against principal

A prominent Indigenous Labor MP has apologised and paid legal costs to an Alice Springs school principal, who was “hurt” by accusations of ­inappropriate ­behaviour to his school council.

A prominent Indigenous Labor MP has apologised and paid legal costs to an Alice Springs school principal who said he was left “hurt and frustrated” after she sent highly personal attacks accusing him of ­inappropriate ­behaviour to his school council and other politicians.

The settlement stemmed from a long-running dispute between Gavin Morris, principal of the Yipirinya School ­outside Alice Springs, and Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour, over commitments to fund a $12m residential boarding facility for the school’s students.

It is understood that the dispute boiled over on August 8 when Ms Scrymgour sent a ­letter to the Yipirinya School Council claiming that “on two occasions Principal Morris has phoned me late at night and spoken aggressively to me with slurred speech”.

The letter, which was copied to federal Education Minister Jason Clare, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and the NT education minister, also suggested Mr Morris, who sits on the Alice Springs Town Council, was seeking to use the issue of the boarding school to build his “political profile” and threatened to report him to the Teacher Registration Board.

It can be revealed that after being served with a “concerns notice” over the letter by a defamation lawyer engaged by the school, Ms Scrymgour issued an apology eight days later, conceding “my letter may be defamatory of him” and “statements I made … in my letters are not accurate”.

Alice Springs based Yipirinya School principal Gavin Morris on the school grounds. Picture: Grenville Turner

“I will not be making any complaint against Dr Morris to the NT Teachers Registration Board in connection with the matters raised,” she continued, also agreeing to pay Dr Morris’s legal costs, which were estimated to be about $10,000.

Yipirinya School’s 300 students are entirely Indigenous and come from Alice Springs and neighbouring communities including town camps.

Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Dr Morris had backed a plan, promised by the previous federal Coalition government and backed by opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Napijinpa Price, to build a residential boarding facility for at-risk students outside Alice Springs.

Ms Scrymgour supported and continues to support a rival plan for a residential “hostel” in Alice Springs for students from a variety of schools, something that Dr Morris said was inferior.

Mr Morris with students at Alice Springs-based Yipirinya School. Picture: Grenville Turner

“I am deeply hurt and frustrated that I’m trying to advocate for the most disadvantaged and I have the federal member who is meant to represent us weaponising my board against the school and using her power of office to silence me,” Dr Morris said.

Ms Scrymgour said while she had apologised to Dr Morris for comments that might have caused “some anxiety”, she “was not going to backtrack on dealing with and working with the Yipirinya School Council”.