Santos executives see red over Labor fundraiser snubbing

SENIOR executives from gas company Santos were left fuming after its representative was told she wasn’t welcome at a Labor Party fundraiser in Darwin last week

Senior executives from gas company Santos were left fuming after its representative was told she wasn’t welcome at an exclusive $2500-a-head Labor Party fundraiser in Darwin, hosted by Chief Minister Michael Gunner, pictured, last week. Picture: Che Chorley

SENIOR executives from gas company Santos were left fuming after its representative was told she wasn’t welcome at a Labor Party fundraiser in Darwin last week.

Santos’s Senior Government and Public Relations Adviser Cathryn Tilmouth was due to attend the exclusive $2500-a-head fundraiser hosted by Chief Minister Michael Gunner at The Cav last Monday.

But representatives from Mr Gunner’s office contacted the company and told them he did not want her to attend, several sources have told the NT News.

Ms Tilmouth is a friend and former adviser to Ken Vowles, the former Labor resources minister who was dumped from the cabinet and kicked out of the Labor caucus after a bitter falling out with Mr Gunner.

She is also a long-time ALP member.

The move to exclude Ms Tilmouth infuriated senior Santos executives who decided not to send anyone to the dinner.

But a spokesman for Mr Gunner said he maintained a healthy relationship with the company.

“We have a strong working relationship with Santos and we look forward to continue working together,” he said.

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Mr Gunner did not directly answer a question about why he had asked for Ms Tilmouth to be excluded from the function, but a source close to the Chief Minister said he was concerned she would leak information to his political opponents.

It’s not known if Santos still donated $2500 to the ALP.

But some Labor sources said upsetting Santos was not a wise move less than two months out from the Territory election.

“This is a company that donates $100,000 to support the Darwin Festival,” a source said.

Ms Tilmouth declined to comment.

Mr Vowles served as Resources and Aboriginal Affairs Minister in Mr Gunner’s Cabinet for more than two years, but he was sacked in December 2018 before being kicked out of the Labor caucus, along with fellow MLAs Jeff Collins and Scott McConnell.

The sacking came days after an email Mr Vowles had sent to his Labor colleagues warning about the parlous state of the NT’s Budget was leaked to the NT News.

At the time, it was reported the email had been leaked by “a fifth-floor source”.

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Mr Vowles quit the parliament earlier this year, forcing a by-election in his old seat of Johnston, that was won by Labor’s Joel Bowden.