A proper, independent inquiry into the NT ICAC is necessary but unlikely

If the NT government was to order an inquiry into the ICAC, there would be plenty to examine. But the public should not count on that happening any time soon, writes MATT CUNNINGHAM.

SIR Humphrey Appleby once said there were two basic rules of government; never look into anything you don’t have to, and never set up an inquiry unless you know in advance what its findings will be.

This approach might help explain why the Queensland government has announced a Royal Commission into its Crime and Corruption Commission, yet no such inquiry will occur in the NT.

The Queensland inquiry will look solely at the CCC following allegations it failed to act impartially during an investigation into the Logan City Council.

But its terms of reference do not include serious allegations made by the state’s former Integrity Commissioner and State Archivist about Government ministers trying to interfere in their independent offices.

No danger there for Annastacia Palaszczuk or her Government.

Sir Humphrey Appleby would be proud of the NT Government, not doing inquiries into anything they don’t have to.

Here in the NT, the Government’s head remains in the clouds over far more serious allegations than those alleged against Queensland’s CCC.

If it was to hold an inquiry, there would be plenty to examine.

Barely a month goes by without another extraordinary story emerging from within the Office of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption.

This week we learned an ICAC officer had covertly recorded businesswoman and Darwin Turf Club board member Anya Lorimer after asking her to come for a casual chat at a Darwin cafe.

We’ve since been told it is one of several chats with members of the public that ICAC officers secretly recorded under the watch of former Commissioner Ken Fleming QC.

These matters have now been referred to ICAC Inspector Bruce McClintock SC.

They come just a month after Mr McClintock found Mr Fleming breached the ICAC Act and acted in an unsatisfactory manner when he inserted an incomplete text message between former NT News editor Matt Williams and Darwin Turf Club Chairman Brett Dixon into his report into the DTC, in what appears to have been an act of retaliation for stories the NT News had been running about unrelated issues within the Office of the ICAC.

Those stories related to the awarding of lucrative investigation contracts to David McGinlay, who had resigned from the South Australian police force in 2003 while under investigation for misconduct and just happened to be the boyfriend of the ICAC’s Director of Investigations Kate Kelly.

Then there’s the curious case of Damien Moriarty, another Turf Club board member who co-operated with the ICAC after being repeatedly told he was a protected person who was not under investigation.

He claims he only discovered this was not the case when he was sent a copy of the ICAC’s draft findings.

He was alarmed to see adverse findings had been made against him.

That will now be a matter for the Supreme Court.

Mr Moriarty is one of three people – plus the Darwin Turf Club – taking legal action over the ICAC’s Turf Club report.

How much will all this cost the taxpayer?

We’ll never know.

The number of complaints to ICAC Inspector Bruce McClintock SC doubled in the space of a year. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

In 2020 former Speaker Kezia Purick launched Supreme Court action over an ICAC report that found she had engaged in corrupt conduct.

That matter was settled out of court.

The details of that settlement are confidential, so we can only assume Ms Purick was well compensated.

And what happened to the two women who were named in the corruption inquiry into the Darwin council without being afforded natural justice?

Have they been paid financial compensation?

Surely, as taxpayers, we have a right to know.

After all, the ICAC was established as part of a Labor pledge to be more transparent.

Michael Riches, who took over as Commissioner last July, is doing an admirable job of trying to fix the mess he has inherited.

NT Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) Michael Riches has got his work cut out for him. Picture: Office of the ICAC/Supplied

But as he noted in a video address this week, the damaged reputation of his office is making people wary to come forward and make a report.

“I do not underestimate the responsibility I have to rebuild any lost trust and confidence in my office,” he said.

That trust can only be restored if the issues that predated Mr Riches’ appointment are properly examined.

So, will the Government order a proper, independent inquiry into the ICAC?

Don’t hold your breath.

On top of all of this mess is the treatment of the ICAC’s own staff.

They’ve made claims of bullying, harassment, intimidation and retaliation against those brave up enough to speak up about what they saw as unsatisfactory behaviour within an organisation established to “restore integrity and trust”.

The public got a window into that world when Mr Fleming appeared at Budget Estimates last year and directed his ire at a whistleblower.

That matter is now before the politically-stacked Privileges Committee.

The only other oversight of the ICAC has been a once-over-lightly review of the ICAC Act which managed to recommend politicians might be exempt from ICAC investigations.

Sir Humphrey would be proud.