Michael Murphy outed himself as subject of Icac investigation that found he had mismanaged a conflict of interest
The Northern Territory’s police commissioner has been given his marching orders after a jobs-for-mates scandal uncovered by a corruption watchdog.
Michael Murphy outed himself as the subject of an Independent Commissioner Against Corruption investigation that found improper and unsatisfactory conduct against an unnamed public official who had mismanaged a conflict of interest in the recruitment of a senior officer.
The Icac report revealed that in early 2024 Murphy had sat on a panel that hired one of his friends.
The NT’s chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, said Murphy’s position had become untenable. “Today, I informed Commissioner Murphy he has lost the confidence of the government,” Finocchiaro said on Saturday night.
“I gave Commissioner Murphy the opportunity to resign. The police commissioner was asked to go on leave effective immediately.”
Martin Dole has been appointed as the acting police commissioner.
“I have now begun the process to terminate the appointment of the police commissioner,” Finocchiaro said.
Murphy came under pressure to resign after Icac labelled his conduct “negligent and incompetent”.
“I found that the conduct involved negligence and incompetence [resulting] in a substantial detriment to the public interest,” said an Icac delegate, Patricia Kelly SC.
The Northern Territory Police Association had called for Murphy to resign, saying its members’ trust had been destroyed and they would “not forget this betrayal”.
“Our members are fed up with the lack of integrity shown and question the commissioner’s ability to remain in his position,” the NTPA president, Nathan Finn, said on Friday.
On Thursday Murphy admitted that the findings related to a recruitment process he had chaired, and he accepted that he “should have dealt better with a conflict of interest, a friendship and a referee report in relation to an appointee”.
“On reflection, I should have managed the friendship and the conflict of interest to a higher standard and on at least one occasion should have recused myself from the appointment process in order to ensure community confidence,” he said.