NLC chief executive Joe Martin-Jard given marching orders a month after senate grilling

One of Australia’s largest land councils has given their CEO the boot, with shredders seen moving in on the office amid allegations he misled parliament after revealing his relationship to a high-paid senior policy officer.

The Northern Land Council confirmed that its chief Joe Martin-Jard would be leaving his role with just 24 hours notice, 10 months before his three-year contract with the land council was set to expire.

Joe Martin-Jard has been sacked as Northern Land Council chief executive, effective Friday, with shredders seen moving in on the office at the same time the leadership shake-up was made public.

On Thursday, the NLC confirmed that its chief would be leaving his role with just 24-hours notice, 10 months before his three-year contract with the land council was set to expire.

It comes a month after Mr Martin-Jard was grilled at Senate Estimates regarding his $460,611 salary and his relationship with NLC senior policy adviser, Deborah Katona.

Mr Martin-Jard confirmed that he directly appointed Ms Katona under a negotiated ‘common law contract’ which he approved, but told parliament their relationship did not begin until after her appointment and “at the time” there was no conflict of interest.

“The timing here is important to understand,” Mr Martin-Jard said.

Mr Martin-Jard said he sought legal advice and told the then-council chair when the relationship changed.

“Ms Katona doesn’t report to me in a direct way, so that was one step that I took once our relationship changed last year,” he said.

Former Northern Land Council CEO Joe Martin-Jard

However, an NT News investigation has revealed that the pair have known each other for at least 13 years, with Mr Martin-Jard writing a letter of recommendation in March 2023 advocating for her appointment as an SES Band 1 in the Australian Public Service — which sets her salary between $183,011 to $212,688 under the 2022 Enterprise Agreement.

In his letter of recommendation, Mr Martin-Jard explicitly said “she is a direct report to me at the NLC” and that he had known her since their time together at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. 

“Ms Katona is a natural leader, a woman on sincere integrity, a valued and trusted adviser to me, a respected member of the senior leadership team, and held in high esteem by other staff members and council members,” he wrote.

An NLC spokesman maintained that Mr Martin-Jard “did not mislead parliament” by stating there was no conflict or interest or that she did not report directly to him.

He said Mr Martin-Jard formally disclosed his relationship with Ms Katona under four months later, in July 2023, saying that for the previous 12-and-a-half years their relationship was only “as distant peers and only general recognition”.

“When first employed at NLC, Ms Katona reported directly to Mr Martin-Jard. This arrangement changed prior to the personal relationship between Ms Katona and Mr Martin-Jard, and has continued,” the NLC spokesman said.

Secure shredding company Iron Mountain seen parked at the front of the Northern Land Council as Joe Martin-Jard exits as chief executive.

Serious questions were also raised by the February Estimates hearing about Mr Martin-Jard’s $460,611 remuneration package in 2022-23.

The figure is more than the Territory Chief Minister’s salary, or the take home pay for the NSW, Queensland, Western Australian, and Tasmanian premiers.

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe asked how the NLC determines salaries, given it was “black money” they were spending.

“I’m not too sure. I’m the beneficiary of it, but I didn’t design the remuneration package,” Mr Martin-Jard replied.

The NLC chief financial officer Irfan Bhat said the CEO position was on a “common law contract” outside the enterprise bargaining agreement and negotiated between Mr Martin-Jard and the executive council.

However, multiple sources have told the NT News that some members of the NLC council were shocked at the scale of their CEO’s remuneration package.

This week, a NLC spokesman said Mr Martin-Jard’s remuneration included his superannuation, travel expenses and vehicle, on top of the base salary of $340,000.

The NLC spokesman confirmed the former chair signed off on Mr Martin-Jard’s salary in December 2022, with the executive council passing a resolution agreeing to a three-year CEO contract in December 2021.

Joe Martin-Jard.

While Mr Martin-Jard’s salary raised the ire of Federal parliamentarians, the previous CEO and now Arafura MP Marion Scrymgour was paid a similar salary of $448,770 in 2020-21.

An August Australian National Audit Office report concluded that the NLC was “not fully implementing its Fraud and Corruption Policy”, finding it did not have a formal mechanism for recording incidents of fraud or suspected fraud, and improvements were needed in the declaration of conflicts of interest.

“NLC employees with a conflict of interest are also not prohibited from participating in recruitment. Classification levels were not always clearly defined in the policy,” it said.

Mr Martin-Jard’s exit comes days after West Arnhem Mayor Matthew Ryan was appointed as the new NLC chairman in the first meeting since the death of Dr Bush-Blanasi in November last year.

“I am committed to providing the leadership to keep the organisation strong and advocating for the NLC’s seven regions,” Mr Ryan said.

The NLC in a statement thanked Mr Martin-Jard for his service and said a recruitment process for his replaced would be announced “in due course”.

It also said an Iron Mountain van – a company that offers secure shredding and records management – parked at their office on Thursday morning was a standard collection of documents for secure warehousing, and was in no way linked to the announcement.

Former NLC chief executive Joe Morrison was directed to leave the organisation in 2018.

His at-times tumultuous period at the helm also included a sexual affair with his personal assistant.

Mr Martin-Jard declined to comment due to a non-disclosure agreement.