Brett Dixon stoush with ICAC lands in Supreme Court

The stoush between Darwin Turf Club chairman Brett Dixon and former Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Ken Fleming QC has landed in court.

THE stoush between Darwin Turf Club chairman Brett Dixon and former Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Ken Fleming QC has landed in the Supreme Court.

Mr Dixon is suing the ICAC following a report handed down in June that found he engaged in “corrupt conduct” through his involvement in a $12m grant awarded to the club for its new grandstand.

Documents filed with the Supreme Court reveal Mr Dixon is seeking orders declaring those findings “wrong in law” and quashing findings that Mr Dixon engaged in “improper conduct”.

Mr Dixon is also seeking a declaration that the publication of the report contravened sections 50 and 55 of the ICAC Act

Section 50 provides that the ICAC must give anyone who is the subject of an adverse finding “a reasonable opportunity to respond to the adverse material and include a fair representation of the response in the report”, while s55 relates to public statements.

Mr Dixon is also seeking an order that the Office of the ICAC remove the investigation report from its website.

Mr Fleming is yet to file a defence to Mr Dixons’s lawsuit with the court.

It comes after former NT Speaker and Member for Goyder Kezia Purick reached an out-of-court settlement with Mr Fleming over an earlier report which made findings of corruption against her.

Ms Purick was forced to resign as Speaker after the ICAC report was delivered last June.

Neither the Office of the ICAC nor Ms Purick would say if she was paid any financial compensation as part of the settlement.

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