Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison denies Michael Gunner left the NT early to avoid Dan Murphy’s questions

DEPUTY Chief Minister Nicole Manison has denied that Chief Minister Michael Gunner went on leave early to avoid questions about the controversial approval of the Dan Murphy’s store in Darwin

Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison has denied that Chief Minister Michael Gunner went on leave early to avoid tough questions. Picture: Che Chorley

• Territory declares Northern Beaches council a COVID-19 hotspot forcing residents into quarantine
• The Liquor Commission Dan Murphy’s decision in full: Read it here

DEPUTY Chief Minister Nicole Manison has denied that Chief Minister Michael Gunner went on leave early to avoid tough questions about the controversial approval of the Dan Murphy’s store in Darwin.

Ms Manison is standing in for Mr Gunner, who left the NT on Thursday, after previously announcing that he would be on leave from Monday.

She said the decision was made for Mr Gunner to start leave early so they had a “clear line of reporting” given the evolving COVID-19 situation in NSW.

“We’re just making sure that operationally we can make the decisions we need to make,” she said.

When asked if it was related to the decision about Dan Murphys, Ms Manison said “Absolutely not.”

Ms Manison said she only found out about the decision herself this morning.

“I think it’s good practice that you actually go out and have those conversations with the people involved before it becomes public,” she said.

Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie declared the Northern Beaches Council LGA in NSW as a hotspot for the purposes of travel to the Northern Territory, effective at 12.01am this morning, with Ms Manison this morning warning that the hotspot could widen at short notice.

“Territorians do need to be prepared that at any point this hotspot area could be widened,” she said.

“And we will be watching very carefully what happens in New South Wales today.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced this morning that the number of cases in the Northern Beaches cluster had risen to 28.

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She said if Mr Gunner ended up in a COVID hotspot, he would quarantine in Howard Springs upon returning to the NT like everyone else.

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