Former Labor Party secretary in the Northern Territory Kent Rowe resigned over ‘cocaine sex’ scandal

A FORMER Labor Party secretary in the Northern Territory has been identified as the fifth floor staff member who resigned over the ‘cocaine sex’ scandal

Kent Rowe (far left) at the Waratah Football Club after Labor won the 2016 election.

FORMER Labor Party secretary in the Northern Territory, Kent Rowe, has been identified as the fifth floor staff member who resigned over the ‘cocaine sex’ scandal.

Mr Rowe, who is married with children, resigned following allegations he was implicated in a sexual relationship with the same woman disgraced Labor MLA Mark Turner was tied up with.

Mr Rowe’s fifth floor job when he resigned was the director of parliament caucus liason and stakeholder engagement.

Mr Rowe, who has been a longtime member of the Labor party, has been a personal friend of Chief Minister Michael Gunner for many years.

Mr Rowe was the secretary of Labor’s NT branch from July 2013 to October 2018.

After working for a high-profile Darwin business, Mr Rowe was hired back onto the fifth floor of parliament in October last year.

Kent Rowe.

In a statement to the NT News on Saturday after several questions were asked, Mr Gunner said: “What has become clear to me, is that former members of my team showed extremely poor judgment, and did not meet my standards, or the standards of my Caucus.”

“It has also become clear that the Member for Blain was not fully honest with me, or my team on repeated occasions when asked about the extent of his relationship with a private citizen which became the subject of gossip and rumour since February 2,” he said.

“This included withholding and denying the existence of text messages he had exchanged with the private citizen.

“The Member for Blain finally disclosed the extent of his relationship to me and fellow members of Caucus shortly before he addressed the parliament last Wednesday night.”

Mr Gunner said he believed his senior staff had handled the matter professionally when the “rumours” first surfaced on February 2.

The Chief Minister said he only became aware of the rumours on the week of February 8.

“I remain unaware of evidence that shows, or even suggests, any former members of my team took part in illegal activity,” Mr Gunner said in his statement on Saturday.

There is no suggestion Mr Turner or Mr Rowe took cocaine themselves.