NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles announced her resignation on Monday afternoon. Photo: Screenshot.
UPDATED: The NT Labor Caucus met on Wednesday (20 December) evening and unanimously elected Member for Drysdale Eva Lawler to be the next Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, and Member for Gwoja Chansey Paech as her deputy.
Previously thought to be a leading candidate for the top job to replace Natasha Fyles as Chief Minister, former Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison will relinquish all her portfolios and will move to the backbench and serve as the Member for Wanguri.
18 DECEMBER: Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Natasha Fyles has resigned over a perceived conflict of interest over a small parcel of mining shares she owns but hadn’t declared on her register of interests.
The announcement on Monday (18 December) came after Ms Fyles returned to Darwin from an interstate funeral.
She said she would resign as Chief Minister and from all of her other ministerial responsibilities from Thursday (21 December) and, after a break, will return to parliament as the Labor member for Nightcliff in Darwin’s northern suburbs.
Ms Fyles had been under increasing pressure over her small shareholding – worth an estimated $2000 – in the company South32, which operates the GEMCO manganese mine operation on Groot Eylandt in the Territory’s north-east.
Locals on Groot Eylandt had been calling on the NT Government to investigate the health impacts of dust from the mine on the local community but, as Health Minister, Ms Fyles had reportedly refused to do so.
My Fyles had also come under pressure for a small shareholding in Woodside, which she voluntarily divested in November. Woodside had reportedly been pitching for a carbon capture project as part of the Middle Arm development in Darwin.
She had also been criticised in recent months for employing an advisor who had been a lobbyist for a fracking project in the Beetaloo Basin area between Tennant Creek and Katherine, as well as for not tackling increasing crime rates in Alice Springs.
In a statement, Ms Fyles said the South32 holding was a legacy of a BHP shareholding she had held since she was a child.
“I have held shares in BHP since I was a child, which were a gift from my late grandmother in 1985,” she said.
“In recent years, BHP has undertaken various mergers and demergers, and as a result, I have been issued with small shareholdings in some other companies.
“While I have always endeavoured to properly declare these holdings as they occurred, upon further review of my personal interests, it became clear that I did not declare one of these – a small shareholding in a company called South32, which came from a BHP demerger in 2015.
“This was an error, and it was my error,” she said. “I don’t have any excuse for it. It was not deliberate. It was not intentional. But it is unacceptable.
“I can assure Territorians that no decision I have ever made has been influenced by that small shareholding,” she added. “But high standards are expected for people holding high office, as there should be, and I also hold myself to high standards.
“For this reason, I believe the honourable course of action is to resign as Chief Minister.”
Ms Fyles has been the member for Nightcliff since 2012 and was previously the Territory’s Attorney General. She was elevated to Chief Minister in May 2022 following the resignation of her predecessor, Michael Gunnar, and she also holds the Ministries of Health, Alcohol Policy, Major Projects, Defence Industries and Major Events.
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said Ms Fyles’ resignation comes after a turbulent year for Labor.
“Her time as Chief Minister will be remembered as one dogged by integrity scandals, where on multiple occasions she showed through her actions that she was willing to mislead Territorians instead of managing the Territory,” Ms Finocchiaro said in a statement on 19 December.
“Natasha Fyles’ failures to manage conflicts of interest and adhere to the Ministerial Code of Conduct made her position untenable.”
Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison – who also stood against Ms Fyles for Chief Minister in May 2022 – is considered Ms Fyles’s most likely successor. Ms Manison is also Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Renewables and Energy, Minister for Mining and Minister for Agribusiness and Fisheries.
In a 19 December statement, Ms Manison said she was proud of Ms Fyles for putting Territorians first, and asked for support to be the next Chief Minister.
“Over the next few days, I will be asking my colleagues for their support to be Chief Minister so that I can serve you,” she said.
“More than ever, we need experienced and proven leadership that focuses on the things that matter most to Territorians. I believe I can offer that.
Another possible contender mentioned is Joel Bowden, Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics, Minister for Business and Jobs, Minister for Skills, Training and International Education, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, and Minister for Recreational Fishing.
