High price for axed NT top cop on ‘indefinite leave’
NT taxpayers may end up having to pay out more than $200,000 to ousted police commissioner Michael Murphy as the former top cop refuses to resign over a jobs-for-mates scandal.
NT taxpayers may end up having to fork out more than $200,000 to ousted police commissioner Michael Murphy during a protracted termination process after the former top cop refused to resign over a jobs-for-mates scandal and was placed on indefinite leave.
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said Mr Murphy’s position was “untenable” following revelations he chaired a panel that appointed a close friend to a senior position in the force but on Monday she argued a substantial process affording him “natural justice” must be completed before the search for a permanent replacement could begin.
Under his contract, believed to be worth at least $400,000 a year, Mr Murphy is entitled to six months’ pay on termination, although this may be challenged given the finding against him by the NT Independent Commissioner Against Corruption of improper conduct involving negligence and incompetence.
However, with no obvious candidate for the role in sight, the NT government is facing an embarrassing repeat of its stand-off with ICAC commissioner Michael Riches, who has been on indefinite leave for nine months following an investigation into allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” and is still pocketing an annual salary of almost $500,000.
Deputy Commissioner Martin Dole, a 29-year veteran of the force, has been appointed acting police commissioner but is considered unlikely to score the permanent role.
On Monday Ms Finocchiaro revealed that Mr Dole was on the panel that Mr Murphy chaired when it appointed Mr Murphy’s friend, now assistant commissioner, Peter Kennon, which was the subject of ICAC’s Operation Apollo investigation.
ICAC’s original statement about Operation Apollo on February 28 noted “one of the other panel members acted as a second referee” but Ms Finocchiaro said she had become aware that Mr Dole was on the panel “just this morning”.
Ms Finocchiaro said Mr Dole was not the subject of any findings by Operation Apollo. “I can only deal with what’s in front of me, and ultimately, as deputy, his role is to act up. I’ve got full confidence in his ability to do that, and we need stability across the force,” she told Darwin’s Mix 104.9.
Mr Dole addressed the issue at a press conference on Monday, saying: “As the acting deputy director at the time it was totally appropriate that I was on that panel … As a senior executive of the NT Police Force I was listed as a referee for more than one of the applicants. I did not provide a personal reference for any applicant.”
He rejected calls for an independent review into the toxic culture of the NT Police Force.
The Australian is not suggesting any wrongdoing by Mr Dole or Mr Kennon.
Ms Finocchiaro has flagged major changes to the ICAC and expressed frustration on Monday that “we continue to pay for two ICAC commissioners” – Mr Riches and acting commissioner Greg Shanahan.
In June 2024 Mr Riches was cleared of any wrongdoing after being investigated for offering his wife $20,000 on the condition she withdrew a domestic violence order application against him.
However Mr Riches, who is on an annual salary of almost $500,000, has been on an “approved leave of absence” while further allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by his staff are investigated by the Commissioner for Public Employment.
“Territorians have spent $35m on ICAC and I think the feedback I get from people is they don’t have a lot of confidence,” Ms Finocchiaro said.
“We’re committed to dealing with the ICAC this year because people are still paying for two ICAC commissioners as well.”
In a statement released last weekend Mr Murphy did not apologise for his conduct but accepted that he “should have dealt better with a conflict of interest” and recused himself from the appointment process.
He said senior police appointments made across the past 12 months, including of a deputy commissioner and three assistant commissioners, “have been awarded to the most meritorious and best candidates”.
However the NT Police Association, which had demanded Mr Murphy’s resignation, questioned the integrity of “all the other executive appointments” made in the past year.
Ms Finocchiaro declined to say whether there would be review into other officers who had been appointed to senior executive roles in that time. “I haven’t ruled anything in or out, but right now, my focus is on this,” she said.
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