Outgoing Land Council boss Joe Morrison accused of misappropriating funds and conflicts of interest

NORTHERN Land Council chief executive Joe Morrison has been handed his immediate marching orders, amid unresolved allegations he misappropriated land council funds and misused his power as one of Australia’s most powerful land council bureaucrats

Northern Land Council chief executive Joe Morrison (left), Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion and NLC chair Sammy Bush-Blanasi at the Baniyala sea rights ceremony. Picture: Matt Garrick

NORTHERN Land Council chief executive Joe Morrison has been handed his immediate marching orders, amid unresolved allegations he misappropriated land council funds and misused his power as one of Australia’s most powerful land council bureaucrats.

Mr Morrison resigned earlier this month and was expected to remain in his job until March 2019, but a meeting of the Land Council’s executive council on Tuesday resolved to call time on his tenure.

Correspondence obtained by the NT News shows the NLC executive council hired outside lawyers last month to advise it on how to deal with a raft of other allegations against Mr Morrison, including buying $249 bottles of wine on a corporate credit card, misusing the Land Council’s frequent flyer account and failing to declare conflicts of interest.

The correspondence also alleges “the bullying and harassment of the Senior Executive to ensure that the matters above were not investigated”, allegations which a land council spokesman has previously denied.

Mr Morrison has previously denied impropriety and some of the allegations to the NT News.

He could not be reached for further comment on Thursday.

The NT News is not suggesting the longstanding allegations are true, only that the group of elected representatives saw them being unresolved as reason enough to prompt Mr Morrison’s immediate departure from his powerful role.

Outgoing Northern Land Council Chief Executive Officer Joe Morrison. Picture: Anna Rogers

The Sunday Territorian earlier this month revealed Mr Morrison had been in an affair with his secretary, and had been probed over her being awarded a steep pay rise.

Eight members of the Land Council’s executive council attended a secret meeting at an office in Darwin’s northern suburbs earlier this week and voted to oust Mr Morrison.

One member of the nine-member council was absent from the meeting.

An extraordinary meeting of the Land Council’s full council next week has also been cancelled.

The executive council also discussed allegations Mr Morrison failed to declare conflicts of interest when two family members were appointed to senior jobs in the Land Council bureaucracy, one of whom “was not the successful applicant for the position”.

The executive council also suspected Mr Morrison commissioned a review of his salary package – and that of his secretary – from a consultant he knew, an alleged relationship which was not declared.

Documents say the review resulted in increases to Mr Morrison’s and his secretary’s salaries.

The move to push Mr Morrison from his job has been in motion since late October, when the executive council met, reviewed the allegations and voted to bring in a team of interstate lawyers.

An email sent to executive council members said that while “nobody is suggesting the allegations are either true or false”, Mr Morrison’s performance “could hardly be viewed as ‘exceptional’.“

“(S)leeping with a subordinate staff member … shows extremely poor judgment,” the email said.

Mr Morrison, who was interstate this week, is expected to have his work email and building pass cancelled on Friday.

Mr Morrison will be handed a four-month severance payment “as a priority”.

The Land Council and its chairman, Samuel Bush-Blanasi, did not respond by the NT News’ deadline on Thursday.