Deputy Chief Minister accuses Darwin ABC presenter Jo Laverty of ‘verballing’ her in radio interview

Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison has accused a Darwin ABC presenter of ‘verballing’ her in a breakfast radio show interview.

Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison has accused a Darwin ABC presenter of ‘verballing’ her in a breakfast radio show interview. Picture: Glenn Campbell

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DEPUTY Chief Minister Nicole Manison has accused a Darwin ABC presenter of “verballing” her in a breakfast radio show interview.

Ms Manison appeared on ABC Darwin radio in the Chief Minister’s fortnightly spot as Michael Gunner was unavailable on Monday morning.

It was the second time in succession that Mr Gunner had cancelled his appearance on the regular spot since the release of the ICAC report into the Darwin Turf Club grandstand grant.

Darwin ABC Breakfast show presenter, Jo Laverty. Picture: ABC

Ms Manison called out ABC morning presenter Jo Laverty after she was asked about a conflict of interest in regards to the Turf Club’s $12m grant and the ICAC report into it.

Ms Manison’s brother-in-law at the time sat on the DTC board.

“My brother-in-law sat on the Darwin Turf Club board, and for the whole term of government I’ve had that declared, so it was not appropriate for me to be part of that decision (awarding of the grant),” Ms Manison said.

Ms Laverty then questioned when she had declared the conflict, and Ms Manison replied “since Labor had taken government”.

Ms Manison then defended text messages sent between Turf Club chairman Brett Dixon and Mr Gunner’s former chief of staff Alf Leonardi in which she was mentioned after a meeting was held between her and Mr Dixon.

“Well, I had the conflict declared there, it was there in paperwork and as the process continued to proceed I determined later on that you know, I really had to step out of the decision there so that was the decision that I made there and I think it was appropriate,” Ms Manison said.

Ms Laverty then pressured her about a conflict of interest and why she had met with the Turf Club in the first place, at which point Ms Manison called out the ABC presenter.

“Jo, I usually don’t call out people on here but I think what you’ve said is definitely wrong and you’ve just been verballing me, and I think it’s pretty poor,” Ms Manison said.

“I’ve been very clear, I’ve said that I’ve had the declared interest when it came down to the decision making around this process I was not part of that decision because I further declared my conflicts there.

“But yes, earlier in the stages of government, by all means you get lobbied by people on a whole raft of interests.

“In this case I certainly have had the Turf Club approach me to say ‘hey we think we’ve got this good idea’. They approached a lot of different people about that too.

“But as the process kept moving forward, I did have a point where I said ‘right, this is definitely not appropriate for me to be part of this decision here’ and I withdrew myself from that process.”