NT Police investigating alleged threats made against senior workplace manager
Police are investigating alleged threats made against a senior manager at the former workplace of David McGinlay – a man hired to conduct investigations for the NT ICAC.
Northern Territory
Don't miss out on the headlines from Northern Territory. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- NTPA president Paul McCue says ICAC Commissioner Ken Fleming’s position is ‘untenable’
- ICAC Commissioner Ken Fleming takes holidays following Estimates appearance
- McClintock unable to take action against Fleming due to parliamentary privilege
POLICE are investigating alleged threats made against a senior manager at the former workplace of David McGinlay – a man hired to conduct investigations for the NT ICAC.
Police have confirmed they are investigating allegations the threats were made against a senior manager at the Darwin Community Legal Service, where Mr McGinlay worked until last year.
The NT News has obtained a copy of the report the woman made to police by way of a statutory declaration.
In it she says she was subjected to a campaign of harassment through threatening phone messages and emails sent from anonymous accounts after making a report to the board about Mr McGinlay and two other staff members.
MORE NT NEWS
Coroner probes the death of 9-year-old who took her own life in care
EXCLUSIVE: New Nationals leader and Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce Darwin-bound
Narrow escape for boy, 7, after car stolen while he was in it
Mr McGinlay declined to comment.
The complaint to police alleges the woman was subjected to several threatening messages between late May and early August last year including some spoken with a computer generated voice.
One of the messages said: “Stop talking. If you keep this up there will be trouble for you. That’s a promise.”
Another said: “You won’t work anywhere in this town again. Not anywhere. Get in the Centrelink line you worthless sack of s**t. Your life is done here. Leave.”
In a statement, NT police said: “In September 2020, NT Police received a complaint from an employee of a Darwin business alleging they’d received threatening emails and phone calls. As this matter is under investigation, there will be no further comment.”
During Budget Estimates last week, ICAC Commissioner Ken Fleming defended his office’s hiring procedures following questions about contracts awarded to Mr McGinlay.
“We do our job properly and are very concerned to make sure that the people who we have on board are people who know what they are doing, are very competent,” he said.
His comments followed revelations the ICAC Inspector, Bruce McClintock SC, was investigating how the contracts were given to Mr McGinlay, given his domestic partner Kate Kelly is the ICAC’s Director of Investigations.
No findings have been made in relation to this matter.
The NT News also asked Mr Fleming questions about Mr McGinlay’s history working as a South Australian police officer.
During a Parliamentary Inquiry in 2003, Mr McGinlay had been accused of threatening and intimidating witnesses when he was seconded to work on the Wood Royal Commission in New South Wales in the mid-1990s.
A subsequent police taskforce investigated those claims but made no finding of wrongdoing against Mr McGinlay.
Addressing this issue in Budget Estimates, Mr Fleming said: “It is all very well for a journalist to write to me and say, ‘Answer these questions’. I cannot because the act says I cannot. I can tell you what we do. We do not run a general scan for something that might be called ‘intelligence’. We prefer, rather, to go to those things which tell us something, not allegations that might appear in the press; not even allegations that might have been made before a Commonwealth parliamentary committee under privilege—we look to the outcome of those matters.“
The NT News has since sent Mr Fleming’s office details of the allegations made in relation to the Darwin Community Legal Service, and asked whether the ICAC made any background checks with the DCLS before it awarded contracts to Mr McGinlay.
In response, ICAC spokeswoman Helen Shih said: “The matter is before the Inspector. Thank you for the information which will be provided to the Inspector for his consideration.”
The Darwin Community Legal Service did not respond to a request for comment.
Originally published as NT Police investigating alleged threats made against senior workplace manager
‘I’m prepared’: Police graduates ready to hit the streets
In a matter of days, 21 new cops will join the ranks of men and women putting their lives on the line every day to protect their community. Read how they’re feeling before hitting the frontline.
Read more
Locked up NT kids bearing the brunt of ‘a failed system’
A Territory child was reported as the victim of abuse and harm 70 times before they ended up in the clink. See why the children’s watchdog believes we’re failing vulnerable kids.
Read more