Kezia Purick resigns as NT Speaker following ICAC investigation, Robyn Lambley demands unnamed ‘players’ be named

INDEPENDENT Commissioner Against Corruption Kenneth Fleming QC has rejected claims he failed to provide natural justice or procedural fairness to disgraced former speaker Kezia Purick. 

Kezia Purick has resigned from her role as Speaker of the NT Parliament

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INDEPENDENT Commissioner Against Corruption Kenneth Fleming QC has rejected claims he failed to provide natural justice or procedural fairness to disgraced former speaker Kezia Purick. 

Ms Purick resigned from her role this morning after a damning investigation by NT’s peak anti-corruption watchdog.

Ms Purick, handing in her resignation the moment parliament sat this morning, said she did not accept the findings in the report and did not think she had been “afforded natural justice” or “procedural fairness”.

She said she had not been allowed to review all evidence and had not had been afforded the right to defend herself.

But in a scathing statement, Mr Fleming said Ms Purick’s lawyers were provided with a list of exhibits relied upon to support adverse findings against Ms Purick; a draft report containing adverse findings against Ms Purick; multiple opportunities to access exhibits from the investigation, including relevant video clips and transcripts of evidence given to the ICAC under examination; and multiple opportunities to respond to material provided by the ICAC. 

“On 13 May 2020 Ms Purick’s lawyers asked the ICAC to supply copies of exhibits that they were able to access from within the offices of the ICAC,” Mr Fleming said.

“In order to protect the integrity of ICAC investigations, and for the protection of whistleblowers, the ICAC is not required to allow legal representatives to remove or duplicate exhibits in the possession of the ICAC.

“These requests were rejected because the ICAC was aware of repeated breaches of confidentiality within the Office of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.”

Mr Fleming added: “The ICAC provided Ms Purick’s lawyers a further opportunity to view the exhibits, which was accepted.

“The ICAC also granted several extensions of time to allow Ms Purick’s lawyers to respond to material provided to them, including adverse material given to the ICAC under examination.

“Ms Purick’s response annexed to the Investigation Report has not denied any of the facts in the messages or emails, or any other facts, which were set out in the draft report and the relevant exhibit references given to her on 14 May 2020.

“Ms Purick’s lawyers were given an opportunity to respond to material provided by the ICAC between 14 May 2020 and 11 June 2020.”

Kezia Purick leaves the Speaker’s chair in NT Parliament on Tuesday morning after announcing that she was resigning her role. Picture: NT Parliament Live

The Independent Commissioner against Corruption, in a scathing 67-page report that was 9-months in the making, found that “against the balance of probabilities” Ms Purick had engaged in corrupt conduct.

The brief of evidence is now in the hands of the NT Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide whether or not criminal charges should be laid.

It is expected that Namatjira MLA Chansey Paech will be installed as Speaker for the rest of the term.

Ms Purick was then replaced by Namatjira MLA Chanston “Chansey” Paech, who becomes Australia’s first openly gay indigenous Speaker of parliament.

Mr Paech was nominated as Speaker by Chief Minister Michael Gunner and the motion agreed to by Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro.

Taking the floor, Territory Alliance deputy leader Robyn Lambley then demanded the unnamed “players” in the scathing ICAC report into Ms Purick’s conduct should stand up and be counted.

Namatjira MLA Chanston ‘Chansey’ Paech takes the Speaker’s chair, replacing Kezia Purick after her resignation. Picture: NT Parliament Live

A number of people in the Independent Commissioner against Corruption’s investigation into Ms Purick were given pseudonyms to protect their identities, including a male non-government MLA named “AB”.

“Have the courage to stand up now and be counted,” Ms Lambley said.

Ms Lambley said until NT Parliament “flushed” the problem of corruption and potential corruption, the place did not stand for integrity and would not give confidence to Territorians.

“(The NT Parliament) stands for chaos, it stands for problems, and it certainly doesn’t give anyone any faith in what goes on in this place,” she said.

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Despite her resignation, Ms Purick, who had been the Speaker since 2012, emphatically denied the ICAC report’s findings and said she had not been “afforded natural justice” or “procedural fairness”.