Gunner walked Turf Club grand stand submission into cabinet, Natasha Fyles claims

A senior minister for the Gunner government has revealed Chief Minister Michael Gunner walked the Turf Club submission into cabinet himself, in a major twist to the saga.

• EXPLAINED: How the NT Cabinet makes its decisions

ONE of the NT government’s highest profile ministers has revealed Chief Minister Michael Gunner walked the submission for the Turf Club grandstand tender into cabinet himself.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles made the stunning revelation first on ABC Radio and then again later on Thursday at a press conference.

Ms Fyles claimed this fact had already been made public, despite Mr Gunner previously dodging the question as to whether he brought the document into cabinet on radio.

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It’s the second major embarrassment for the Chief Minister in two days, after his Environment Minister Eva Lawler on Wednesday said Mr Gunner “set the date” for the August 29 Cracker Night.

Speaking at a press conference, Ms Fyles said “the Chief Minister took that document into cabinet”.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner. Picture: Che Chorley

But the Health Minister said the decision to bring the cabinet submission into cabinet under his arm should be taken into context, saying the $12m spend on the new grandstand was prioritised because of “jobs”.

“These capital grants to city council and sporting organisations were about jobs,” she said, despite the grandstand grant being significantly larger than other tenders.

In response to questions from the NT News, Mr Gunner’s office repeatedly referred to previous comments made by Mr Gunner on Mix 104.9FM last week that he was “responsible for everything in cabinet”.

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Mr Gunner repeatedly gave that response when asked by Katie Woolf whether he brought those documents into cabinet himself.

Mr Gunner said on Thursday cabinet processes had been changed since the Turf Club grant was awarded.

“ICAC undertook an 18-month investigation and the report made no findings against the government or any minister,” he said.

“The ICAC report acknowledges that cabinet is elected to make its decisions.’

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said Ms Fyles and Ms Lawlers’ comments showed “the knives were out” for the Chief Minister.

“They’re all throwing him under the bus.”

The revelations are the latest fallout from a bombshell ICAC report, which found five people – including Mr Gunner’s former chief-of-staff Alf Leonardi – had committed misconduct in the tender process of the grandstand.

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