Finocchiaro shuts down further action against five officers accused of lying about racist awards

The Chief Minister has threatened to hold a crossbencher to account for accusing five senior NT Police officers of committing a crime when they gave sworn statements claiming no knowledge of racist awards produced by members of the force.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The Chief Minister has threatened to hold a crossbencher to account for accusing five senior NT Police officers of committing a crime when they gave sworn statements claiming no knowledge of racist awards produced by members of the force.

Lia Finocchiaro told parliament it was up to the ICAC to refer the matter for prosecution, which it had not done, and that “as far as I am concerned, this matter is closed”.

She then went on to say an internal police investigation into the matter was ongoing.

The NT corruption watchdog concluded Operation Beaufort in November last year, finding “no admissible evidence” the five officers misled a coronial inquiry, despite concluding “any person of reasonable intelligence” would see evident racism in the awards.

Produced between 2007 and 2015, the awards included “c--n of the year” and a “noogadah award” for “utmost level of Aboriginality”, along with images of Aboriginal flags.

Two certificates from the 2007 NT Police TRG awards, which the NT ICAC commissioner has deemed to be 'racist'. Picture - Supplied

ICAC delegate Patricia Kelly SC said in the report the anonymity promised to anyone who came forward meant she did not pass on their declarations to police or the Director of Public Prosecutions.

In September, the DPP advised there was not enough evidence to charge any of the five officers who denied the racist awards in their affidavits – a decision Ms Kelly described as “reasonable if not inevitable”.

Nonetheless, she noted, some evidence gathered “tended to contradict” the five officers’ statements.

In Question Time this week Independent Johnston MLA Justine Davis asked Mrs Finocchiaro what “what disciplinary action the department took against the police officers who openly committed a crime of lying to the court”.

“Given the ICAC investigation was clearly flawed, was it referred to the DPP for investigation, given that it was clear that they had committed a crime,” Ms Davis said.

Independent member for Johnston Justine Davis. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

A fiery Mrs Finocchiaro told Ms Davis she “might want to walk that back”.

“She is alleging that police committed a crime – she might want to correct that for the record, or I will hold her to account for it,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.

“If ICAC finds an issue that they think has any illegality involved it is then referred to the DPP. That is the appropriate process.

“If the ICAC has not found that, there is no reason for anyone else to believe that the ICAC has missed that.

“From the policing side, I can confirm that there is an internal review being done in relation to Operation Beaufort and the members that you have mentioned. That is an operational matter that sits within police to deal with.

“There is not much more I can add, but I know our police are out there every day making us proud.

“If you think someone has allegedly done something wrong, why don’t you walk to the DPP and let them know, Member for Johnston.”

Originally published as Finocchiaro shuts down further action against five officers accused of lying about racist awards