NT Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech blocks censure motion over alcohol supplier shares scandal

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has accused Eva Lawler of not upholding the ministers’ code of conduct.

Deputy Chansey Paech has denied doing anything wrong after he bought shares in a grog supplier two months before alcohol bans lapsed in 2022. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The Opposition has tried to censure the Chief Minister for her “failure to lead the Territory” over the government’s second shareholding scandal in the space of three months.

Country Liberal Leader Lia Finocchiaro accused Eva Lawler of not upholding the ministers’ code of conduct, and of refusing to confirm how Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech managed the conflict of owning Metcash shares during cabinet discussions about alcohol policy.

“Chief Minister, you have failed like your predecessor to show leadership and you fail in your promise of change and restoring integrity,” Ms Finocchiaro said During Question Time on Thursday.

As Leader of Government Business, Mr Paech himself was the one to tell the Speaker whether the censure motion was accepted, shutting it down with a definitive “No”.

‘No’: Chansey Paech blocked Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro’s attempt to censure the Chief Minister over her handling of the shares scandal. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Earlier this week it was revealed Mr Paech purchased $436.60 of shares in food and alcohol distributor Metcash just two months before alcohol bans on Red Centre town camps lapsed in 2022.

While the shares were on the public register, the CLP have called for the release Cabinet documents to prove the conflict of interest was also raised at the start of meetings where alcohol policy was on the agenda, as Mr Paech claims.

The government has repeatedly refused to do so, citing Cabinet-in-confidence.

“I’m interested to know if the CLP would open the cabinet records, is that what the Leader of the Opposition is saying she would do, hypothetically, if she was chief minister?,” Ms Lawler said.

The government says it will not release Cabinet documents detailing conflict of interest discussions.

On Tuesday Ms Lawler admitted she did not recall ever hearing Mr Paech raise the conflict of interest in Cabinet, later saying “both of us are telling the truth”.

“I was not Chair of Cabinet at that time, we are talking about two years ago — I can assure you that those conflicts are registered.”

Other Labor colleagues also continue to defend Mr Paech – Health Minister Selena Uibo on Thursday morning declaring there was “nothing that was being hidden”.

Ms Uibo said, while she would not comment on the “financial choices” of a colleague, Mr Paech had “done the right thing”.

“He’s divested himself of the shares, he declared them when he bought them,” she said.

“So there was nothing that was being hidden from the start.”

Health Minister Selena Uibo has defended her wounded colleague Chansey Paech, saying there was never any attempt to hide his Metcash investment. Picture: File

Asked what she hoped would come of the Kathleen Robinson review into the reporting of the ministerial conflict of interests and declarations register, announced in the wake of Natasha Fyles’ resignation, Ms Uibo said she would “not comment on what the review should or shouldn’t find”.

However, she did say that the processes for disclosure needed to be “streamlined”.

“Just so people understand, there are a few clunky portions of disclosures,” Ms Uibo said.

“We have a Legislative Assembly process, which is all members of parliament, all 25 members, and then each of the ministers under the Crown do have a ministers’ disclosure of interest, which happens at the end of the financial year each year.

“So, it’s bringing together some of those elements.”

Ms Uibo, who was asked whether she had divested shares, said she held none so had none to divest.

In a statement, Michael Riches, the Northern Territory’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, said he would not be commenting publicly on the controversy enveloping Mr Paech.

NT Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) Michael Riches. Picture: Office of the ICAC/Supplied

“Reports of improper conduct made to my office will be properly considered and action will be taken as appropriate,” Mr Riches said.

Speaking generally, he said there was nothing wrong with elected officials having “personal interests,” such as financial holdings, provided they were managed correctly.

“Given the small population in the Northern Territory, conflicts of interest will arise more frequently,” he said.

“A conflict of interest is not a sign of impropriety.

“But failing to do anything about it can be.”

CLP demands release of cabinet minutes over Paech shares scandal

Earlier, Wednesday 4pm: Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech has shot downs calls for his resignation after it was revealed he purchased shares in a company supplying wholesale alcohol to Alice Springs, two months before town camp grog bans lifted.

Mr Paech, who was a vocal critic of the bans, said he bought 125 shares in Metcash for $436.60 in May 2022, and divested from his entire share portfolio two months ago following the separate share scandal that ended Natasha Fyles’ time in the top job.

He has strongly denied any conflict or wrongdoing, telling Mix 104.9 on Wednesday: “I can absolutely say hand on heart I have always complied with the rules”.

Namatjira MLA Bill Yan called on the government to release cabinet minutes to prove Mr Paech raised the conflict with his colleagues when alcohol policy was discussed.

“This will clear the air and allow Territorians to get the government they deserve, not a government that’s specifically defecting, deferring and denying what’s going on,” he said.

“The cabinet code of conduct for ministers is actually really quite clear; if you have shares and they could be considered a conflict of interest, you should divest them. It’s very, very simple.

“We’ve seen now a previous chief minister caught out for not doing this, and now we see the Deputy Chief Minister in the same situation. The Deputy Chief Minister’s position is absolutely untenable.”

CLP MLAs Bill Yan and Jo Hersey called on the government to release cabinet minutes related to conflict of interest discussions. Picture: Fia Walsh.

Mr Yan said Country Liberal Party members were divesting from shareholdings that could cause a conflict of interest ahead of the August election, but would not go so far as insisting that a ban on politicians holding shares was needed.

“There is a clear commitment from the CLP that we will divest our shares and get ourselves ready for government.”

The case was different for independent members and those in opposition, he said, as “in reality, you are not a decision maker”.

Senator Jacinta Price also joined calls for Mr Paech to stand down, condemning the shareholding a “betrayal”.

“To deliberately allow alcohol to flow where it is killing our people knowing it is delivering a profit is sickening,” she said.

Mr Paech maintained all disclosure requirements had been met, that “there was no conflict”, and he would make no apologies for opposing “racist” Intervention-era bans.

He cited cabinet-in-confidence when repeatedly pressed to say whether he raised his shareholding in cabinet meetings, or whether he recused himself from discussions regarding alcohol policy, as required by the NT Ministerial Code of Conduct.

Mr Paech has defended his former shareholding in alcohol wholesaler Metcash. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“I have regularly – regularly – acknowledged and updated the members interests form. I have regularly disclosed – to my colleagues, to my community, to businesses and organisations that I meet with – any potential perceived or real conflicts,” Mr Paech said.

“Members of all political persuasions are entitled to buy and sell shares as long as they are disclosed … There are still members in the Northern Territory parliament who own shares in Coles and Woolworths, who own BWS and LiquorLand.

“And let me be really clear, I have never been the decision maker on alcohol policy.”

Mr Paech was Minister of Indigenous Essential Services and Minister for Remote Housing and Town Camps at the time he bought the shares, and has been a member of the cabinet since 2020.

Metcash is one of the country’s largest wholesale distributor of food and alcohol, and also supplies groceries to stores across the Territory, including in remote communities.

Asked on Tuesday what he would say to Territorians who believed his shareholding did not pass the pub test, Mr Paech said “I’m not sure whose pub you’re at”.

Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro holds a press conference in front of the parliament. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Chief Minister Eva Lawler this week announced she would review conflict-of-interest rules for elected members – something that was in progress before the latest share scandal broke.

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro welcomed the review but said it was “too little, too late”.

“This isn’t just about politics; it’s about the very fabric of trust between the Northern Territory Government and Territorians,” she said.

“If Chansey Paech owned shares in a company that will directly benefit from the decision of the cabinet, he at the very least had to declare that in the cabinet.

“It’s not the amount of the shares that is the point, the point is the integrity issue that comes along with it. What we’ve seen is government ministers have careless disregard for the rules.”

The NT Greens also supported the review: “If the Deputy Chief Minister is correct that ‘all rules have been followed’, then it is clear to every Territorian that our rules are woefully inadequate,” Party Manager Sib Hare Breidahl said.

Chansey Paech bought grog shares two months before bans lifted

Earlier, Wednesday 10am: Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech invested in a company that supplies alcohol to Alice Springs bottle shops two months before grog bans on remote communities lapsed.

Parliamentary disclosure records reveal Mr Paech purchased an unknown quantity of shares in liquor and food wholesaler Metcash in May 2022, before 15 years of Commonwealth Intervention-era bans ended in July that year.

Mr Paech was Town Camps Minister at the time and one of the Labor Party’s loudest advocates for the end of the bans, which he attacked as paternalistic and racist.

The NT government was criticised for allowing the Commonwealth restrictions to lapse without a strong backup plan for alcohol management, leading to a wave of alcohol-fuelled violence in Alice Springs, an emergency visit from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and the urgent reinstatement of bans last year.

Metcash supplies takeaway alcohol and groceries to Alice Springs and Darwin IGAs, and franchises Territory Cellarbrations, Thirsty Camel and The Bottle-O stores.

Mr Paech divested from the company late last year following the shares scandal that toppled former Chief Minister Natasha Fyles and led to his promotion to Deputy Chief.

“I have always complied with the Ministerial Code of Conduct and the Legislative Assembly (Disclosure of Interests) Act 2008,” Mr Paech said.

“All rules have been followed.”

Chief Minister Eva Lawler defended her deputy, saying Mr Paech had always declared the conflict. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Chief Minister Eva Lawler defended Mr Paech, rejecting suggestions he should step down over the issue.

“Ministers can have shares, it’s how they manage that conflict,” she said, but would not provide details on how the conflict was managed.

“He had them always on his register of interest, so he did the right thing around that.”

Under the Northern Territory Ministerial Code of Conduct, ministers can hold shares but must “avoid” situations where their “private interests conflict, have the potential to

conflict or appear to conflict with their public duty”.

Ministers are under an obligation to advise the Chief Minister or Cabinet about conflicts so they can decide how it should be managed.

Asked directly if Mr Paech told her he had a conflict of interest around the decision to lift alcohol bans in town camps, Ms Lawler admitted: “No, I did not ever hear him say that”.

Ms Fyles resigned in December after it was revealed she had a shareholding with South 32, owner of the Gemco manganese mine on Groote Eylandt, which she made a decision about while health minister.

She said the failure to declare was an unintentional oversight after she acquired the shares in a BHP demerger.

Ms Lawler said the situation with Mr Paech’s shareholding was different to Ms Fyles as his had always been properly declared.

“Natasha just wasn’t managing her shares, she wasn’t aware that BHP shares had changed to South 32 … Chansey’s aware of it and he declared his conflict of interest.”

Ms Lawler on Tuesday announced a review into Ministerial conflict of interest controls, aimed at streamlining the process and making disclosures more transparent.