ICAC had disclosure concerns over report into Darwin Turf Club grandstand grant

Former ICAC commissioner Ken Fleming sent out non-disclosure notices the same time he allegedly authorised his deputy chief executive to reveal insider information

THE NT’s former Independent Commissioner Against Corruption sent out non-disclosure notices the same time he allegedly authorised his deputy chief executive to reveal insider information surrounding an inquiry into the controversial $12m Darwin Turf Club (DTC) grandstand grant.

Then commissioner Ken Fleming QC allegedly issued the warning the same time his deputy chief executive, Matthew Grant, shared insider information from the DTC report with an executive at the NT News.

Four days before the DTC report was formally released, Mr Fleming sent a letter to former DTC chairman Brett Dixon’s lawyer, Matthew Selley, saying he was “concerned for the security of the information” in the looming report.

The June 21 letter was sent to Mr Selley after he wrote to Mr Fleming over concerns that confidential information in the ICAC’s possession was being illegally leaked into the public arena.

“Given the number of people who necessarily had access to the draft report, I was concerned for the security of the information,” Mr Fleming wrote. “I ensured that each and every relevant person received a notice pursuant to section 147 of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Act 2017.”

It is an offence under the ICAC Act to breach a section 147 notice by unlawfully disclosing information, with the offenders potentially facing a prison term of up to two years.

In the letter, Mr Fleming denied any information had been leaked from his staff.

“From my investigations I can say that that (sic) no material has been provided … from this office,” he wrote.

It has now been revealed that around the same time, Mr Grant contacted NT News general manager Greg Thomson by phone and email, revealing some of the contents of the report, including a misleading and incomplete version of a text message the ICAC had in its possession for almost a year.

Mr Grant disclosed the contents of the incomplete text message from former editor Matt Williams when he was complaining to Mr Thomson about media coverage about the ICAC and its office.

At the time, the NT News had published a series of articles about conflict-of-interest allegations within the ICAC office, as well as articles resulting from a heavily criticised appearance by Mr Fleming in Budget Estimates on June 15.

Mr Grant’s contact with Mr Thomson was not addressed in ICAC Inspector Bruce McClintock’s scathing investigation report but the Inspector stated these allegations were currently subject to an investigation by NT Police. In response to a series of questions by the NT News in relation to his contact with Mr Thomson on June 21 last year, Mr Grant said: “I was acting in my official capacity as D/CEO of the ICAC, with the authority of former Commissioner Fleming.” Mr McClintock found Mr Fleming made a decision to publish the botched text message during a meeting of ICAC staff the day before the turf club report was made public.