ICAC reaches out-of-court settlement with former speaker Kezia Purick
THE Northern Territory’s anti-corruption watchdog reached an out-of-court settlement with former speaker Kezia Purick after she sued them over an investigation report that labelled her “corrupt”.
Northern Territory
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THE Northern Territory’s anti-corruption watchdog reached an out-of-court settlement with former speaker Kezia Purick after she sued them over an investigation report that labelled her “corrupt”.
Ms Purick has confirmed she reached the confidential settlement with former Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Ken Fleming QC last December after launching legal action four months earlier but said she was unable to make any further comment.
“I started proceedings last August. Before Christmas we signed a deed of settlement and I withdrew those proceedings in January,” Ms Purick said.
Ms Purick was forced to resign as Speaker – a role that pays an MLA more than $105,000 per year – after the ICAC report was delivered last June.
Neither the Office of the ICAC nor Ms Purick would say if she was paid any financial compensation as part of the settlement.
In documents filed in the Supreme Court on August 21 last year, Ms Purick sought to prevent Mr Fleming from referring a brief to the Director of Public Prosecutions, arguing the ICAC had “unlawfully obtained” evidence that had been the subject of parliamentary privilege during its investigation.
Messages and emails extracted from Ms Purick’s phone and computer were used during the ICAC investigation, which found the former speaker had engaged in “corrupt conduct” when she intervened in the creation of a political party by former independent MLAs Terry Mills and Robyn Lambley in 2018.
Under the ICAC Act, “an authorized officer who intends to inspect, copy or seize … an item that the officer considers likely to be the subject of parliamentary privilege must give reasonable notice to the Clerk of the officer’s intention”.
The material is then meant to be sealed before the Supreme Court determines whether information contained on those items is subject to parliamentary privilege.
It’s unclear if this process was followed during the investigation into Ms Purick.
The Office of the ICAC did not answer questions about whether it had breached parliamentary privilege during its investigation or whether it had reported any possible breach to ICAC Inspector Bruce McClintock SC.
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“The Office of the ICAC is unable to comment on this matter,” a spokeswoman said.
The Office of the Clerk and the Chief Minister have not responded to questions about whether the ICAC gave notice to the Clerk before seizing material from Ms Purick’s devices.
But in a submission tabled in Parliament last month as part of Speaker Ngaree Ah Kit’s response to the Purick report, former Clerk Michael Tatham raised concerns the ICAC had not followed the proper process during its investigations into Ms Purick and Labor MLA Mark Turner.
“It is … unfortunate that we have examples of not using the clear pathways set out in the Act and taking action that is at best marginal to what is contemplated in the Act,” he wrote.
Ms Purick had sought to have the report into her conduct quashed but it remains on the ICAC website.
The ICAC would not say if it had ever referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Just two months after the ICAC found Ms Purick had engaged in “corrupt” conduct, she recontested her seat of Goyder as an independent and won, securing more than 56 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.
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