The Gunner Government’s last shred of trust has disappeared, writes MATT CUNNINGHAM
THE Gunner Government’s reputation is in ruins. It’s been on life support for more than a year, but its last shred of trust surely disappeared with the turf club email revelations, writes MATT CUNNINGHAM
Opinion
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- Turf club grandstand emails handed to ICAC
- Gunner refuses to resign over turf club emails scandal
- Michael Gunner’s reign as leader now in serious jeopardy
THE Gunner Government’s reputation is in ruins.
It’s been on life support for more than a year, but today it looks every bit as bad as the Mills/Giles CLP debacle it promised to save us from.
The revelation on Friday from ABC journalist Jano Gibson that Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s chief of staff Alf Leonardi emailed Turf Club chairman Brett Dixon with instructions about what to write in a submission for a $12 million grant to build a new grandstand at the Turf Club is damning.
Last year this column said the turf club deal had a bit of a waft about it.
We can now confirm it was an absolute stinker.
Gunner had two options when quizzed about the email on Friday; admit he knew about it and (presumably), hand in his resignation — or claim ignorance.
He chose option two, describing himself as an idiot in the process.
That might save his job for now, but do people really want a self-confessed idiot as their leader?
We’ll find out in August.
It might pay at this point to remember the key pledges of this government when it came to office.
Primarily, to end the chaos and restore trust.
The first promise went out the window when Ken Vowles, Scott McConnell and Jeff Collins got kicked out of the caucus.
And the last shred of trust surely disappeared with Friday’s email revelations.
The grandstand has been a rod for the government’s back for almost a year.
The public have been furious and it’s easy to see why.
The grant for the grandstand wasn’t in the Budget (despite claims from the government that it was), and was awarded just months after a report revealing the NT’s dire financial position.
The turf club then awarded Dixon’s company Jaytex the tender to build the grandstand, a decision some in the racing industry are still filthy about.
It was later revealed that Treasurer Nicole Manison was opposed to the grant (what sensible Treasurer wouldn’t be?) but that Leonardi and Gunner had told her to sit out of the cabinet decision making process because her brother-in-law is on the turf club’s board.
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All of that created a huge deal of suspicion. Then on Friday came the smoking gun.
It might pay at this point to remember the accusations Labor members threw at Adam Giles and Dave Tollner about allegedly crooked deals with developers at Blake St and Berrimah Farm.
An independent investigation headed by a former Supreme Court judge into political donations and an Independent Commission into Corruption have looked into these deals at length and found nothing.
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Certainly nothing as serious as an email from the Chief Minister’s chief-of-staff giving instructions on how to get $12 million.
It’s little wonder many of the Labor faithful are furious.
And the timing could hardly be worse, just three weeks out from the Johnston by-election. Friday’s revelations will have done nothing for the chances of Labor candidate Joel Bowden.
One former Labor minister told me on Friday: “They need to realise Joel can’t win with the corruption stench as they face two weeks of scrutiny in parliament with the Government paralysed.”
I’m not so sure about the Johnston result. Bowden is a good candidate and has been working hard.
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And Ken Vowles left behind a healthy margin.
But if Bowden can’t hold this safe Labor seat, Gunner will probably never find out if voters think he’s an idiot.
His caucus might decide that first.
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