Vickie Chapman hires top barrister Frances Nelson for parliamentary inquiry into her decision to refuse Kangaroo Island deepwater port

The Attorney-General has hired one of SA’s most respected barristers for a rare parliamentary inquiry into her decision to refuse a deepwater port.

One of South Australia’s most experienced barristers, Frances Nelson QC, will represent Attorney-General Vickie Chapman during a parliamentary inquiry into her conduct in relation to the scrapping of a proposal to build a deepwater port on Kangaroo Island.

Ms Chapman will pay Ms Nelson’s fees out of her own pocket.

Meanwhile, respected Adelaide Senior Counsel Rachael Gray QC is expected to grill Ms Chapman when she gives evidence to the inquiry next month.

Ms Gray has been engaged to lead the questioning of witnesses during the hearings.

Ms Chapman described the inquiry as an “unprecedented witch hunt that will cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars”.

“Labor’s appointed QC could easily be charging north of $5000 a day to ‘lead’ this Kangaroo Court – all money that will come directly from the pockets of taxpayers,” she said.

The extraordinary inquiry into whether Ms Chapman had a conflict of interest and breached the ministerial code of conduct in rejecting Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers’ application to construct a deepwater port on Kangaroo Island was launched last week.

The Opposition claimed it had evidence Ms Chapman had a conflict of interest in the matter.

Ms Chapman is a sixth-generation local on Kangaroo Island, where she remains a landholder and farmer – which is the basis for the claim of a conflict.

She said the Speaker had already looked into the matter and “found there was no case to answer”.

However, Ms Chapman on Wednesday accused inquiry committee chair and Labor MP Andrea Michaels of having her own conflict of interest, claiming she was a close personal friend of KIPT lobbyist Iain Evans, who also sat on Ms Michael’s law firm’s advisory board.

“This is the Labor Party at its grubby worst, and not only should Andrea Michaels recuse herself, Labor should vacate the quasi-trial,” she said.

Ms Michaels said her law firm’s board was dissolved in 2015 and Mr Evans was no longer a lobbyist for KIPT.

According to the government’s lobbyist register, Mr Evans represented KIPT from October 2018 to August this year.

Ms Chapman is expected to be among the last of the witnesses called to give evidence.

Staff from the South Australian Planning Commission and Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers are likely to be the first to appear before the inquiry committee.

Ms Chapman has been contacted for comment.

The hearings are set to take place on November 2, 3 and 4, with an option to hold further hearings on November 5, 8 and 9 if needed.

Attorney-General Vickie Chapman speaking during Question Time. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

The committee is due to present is inquiry report to parliament on November 18.

As Planning Minister, Ms Chapman refused an application by KIPT to build a $40 million deepwater port on KI’s north coast.

KIPT had hoped to use the Smith Bay seaport to export about 4.5 million tonnes of timber.

Ms Chapman, at the time, said she had decided the potential “long-term and irreparable damage” the wharf could have brought to the island was a risk she was “not willing to take”.

She also cited the potential effects on surrounding businesses, the marine environment, and biosecurity risks as reasons for her decision.

While it’s a rare feat for an Opposition to successfully move for a parliamentary inquiry into a Minister, Labor managed on October 12 to force the investigation with the help of the newly-inflated crossbench.

The number of independents grew to six only days earlier when former Adelaide Hills-based MP Dan Cregan quit the Liberal Party and joined the crossbench, descending the state government deeper into minority.

Originally published as Vickie Chapman hires top barrister Frances Nelson for parliamentary inquiry into her decision to refuse Kangaroo Island deepwater port