NT ICAC allegedly threatened witness with jail
Locked in a windowless room and threatened with jail. Read how the Northern Territory ICAC is alleged to have strongarmed its witnesses.
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One of the central figures in the controversial ICAC probe into the Fannie Bay grandstand has accused the crime watchdog of interrogating a witness in a windowless room and threatening him with jail and not seeing his kids.
Territory developer Brett Dixon, who was investigated by ICAC over the $12m grandstand development, also accused the organisation of conflicts of interest, and ignoring some relevant evidence.
Twelve months on Mr Dixon remains furious about the way ICAC handled an investigation that involved him, labelling it an “absolutely farcical investigation” and that people in power outside the ICAC “did nothing” to redress the injustice of the ICAC probe.
ICAC was at the time headed by former boss, Ken Fleming
The ICAC’s probe into the $12m Fannie Bay grandstand development followed concerns at the awarding of the government contract to Jaytex, the company owned by Mr Dixon, who also chaired Darwin Turf Club.
In response, an ICAC investigation released in mid-2022 identified five individuals who had engaged in “improper conduct”.
The issue became a major political scandal, with then chief minister Michael Gunner facing criticism from Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro about the grant allocation and blame-shifting onto Dixon and others.
“The Chief Minister has disgustingly thrown everyone and anyone else under the bus to save his own skin,” Ms Finocchiaro said at the time.
“No one believes him, or believes his version of events, and this is a disaster for the Gunner government of their own making.” she said.
Mr Gunner strongly denied the allegations, and threatened to “take civil action against the company, all entities and individuals that may have profited from this”.
After 12-months of speculation and recrimination, Mr Dixon and the other Darwin Turf Club board members were exonerated last year when the Supreme Court lashed ICAC’s findings.
Supreme Court justice Judith Kelly found the ICAC failed to offer “procedural fairness” to one of the people identified in the report.
Soon after, Fleming’s replacement at ICAC Michael Riches, removed the report from the organisation’s website.
To mark the 12-month anniversary of the report’s sensational dumping, Mr Dixon has broken three years of silence in which he said himself, his family, colleagues and friends felt bullied and intimidated by the corruption-busting body.
“The damage created (by the report) reached far and wide,” Mr Dixon said.
“There are people in power that know what went on here, I have tried to contact them a number of times but they don’t want to know about it.”
Mr Dixon said he believed ICAC compiled a report that has since been discredited.
“ICAC interrogated people, taking them into rooms with no windows telling them if they didn’t roll over on me they will be going to jail and won’t get to see their kids grow up,” he claimed.
“ICAC employed people who worked on the report that had previous disputes and grudges with the Darwin Turf Club. They tried to prove I made a profit on the building of the grandstand, but when confronted with written confirmation from reputable external accountants there was actually a significant loss on the project, (they changed the) narrative to we ‘tried to make a profit’.”
Mr Dixon also claimed there was nothing done by ICAC to stop rampant leaking and that no regard was apparently given to “written confirmation from a director from my bank that I didn’t make the (political) donation that the report continued to talk about”.
Mr Dixon said the draft of the report sent by ICAC to him for comment was actually different from the statement report he released publicly and secretly recorded Darwin Turf Club board members without their knowledge while others were listening in.
Mr Dixon alleges that after the report was forwarded to Michael Gunner, ICAC changed the document from a report to a ‘statement’ and then released it to the public.
Mr Dixon said it felt like ICAC wanted to do “maximum damage” to him and the Darwin Turf Club.
“ICAC put myself and many of the honest hardworking DTC ex board members through hell,” he said.
“I, along with others, were investigated for 18 months and interrogated for five days under oath. We were not allowed to discuss any of it with anyone including our families, all under the threat of going to jail.
“ICAC shamed and destroyed the reputations of hardworking volunteers who had done nothing wrong. This has created mental health issues for some that are still dealing with it today.
“How can ICAC possibly do this and then just walk off into the sunset without any accountability. Why isn’t the new ICAC commissioner investigating what the previous office did to innocent Territorians who volunteered their time because they had a passion for racing? The evidence is there.”
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, who replaced Michael Gunner in the job last year, denied any knowledge of the claims made.
“We are not aware of these allegations and recommend they be referred to the ICAC inspector who is independent from the office of the ICAC,” Ms Fyles said.
Mr Fleming’s replacement Michael Riches said he knew nothing about Mr Dixon’s claims.
“I am not aware of those assertions, which should be reported to the ICAC Inspector,” Mr Riches said.
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