A federal independent Member of Parliament has called for a full investigation into Chief Minister Natasha Fyles’ office following revelations her senior political adviser’s consultancy firm is the registered lobbyist for Tamboran Resources, while the NT Independent can reveal more details about the extent of his firm’s potential influence in securing federal funding for the controversial Middle Arm industrial precinct.

The NT Independent revealed on Tuesday that Ms Fyles’ senior adviser Gerard Richardson’s consultancy company Brookline Advisory is the registered lobbyist for Tamboran Resources – a gas company the Fyles Government approved to frack the Beetaloo Basin and build a massive LNG plant at Middle Arm – according to the federal lobbyist registry, which also lists Mr Richardson’s business partner Lidija Ivanovski on the register.

Ms Ivanovski is a former media adviser to former chief minister Paul Henderson, however, she more recently worked as now-Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ chief of staff for years before becoming the second-in-charge of Federal Labor’s 2022 election campaign that saw Anthony Albanese elected Prime Minister.

According to the federal lobbyist register, Brookline Advisory was first registered as a lobbyist on April 13, 2022 – just one day after Federal Labor publicly matched the Coalition’s pledge to fund the proposed Middle Arm precinct with $1.5 billion of taxpayer money – during the federal election campaign.

Questions to the Prime Minister’s Office about Ms Ivanovski’s influence on his decision to commit taxpayer money to the controversial gas hub have gone unanswered.

While Brookline Advisory was listed as a lobbyist in April, ASIC records show it was not incorporated as a company until July of this year, around the time Mr Richardson was hired by Ms Fyles to act as her senior political adviser. Records show Mr Richardson and Ms Ivanovski are the sole directors of the company.

A leading national integrity expert raised concerns on Tuesday about the inherent conflict of interest while also questioning the nature of Ms Fyles’ contract with Brookline for Mr Richardson’s services, given that it appeared NT taxpayer funds were being used to pay a political strategist who is not an NT Government staffer.

Geoffrey Watson, director of the Centre for Public Integrity, told the NT Independent that if Mr Richardson had attended Cabinet meetings as Ms Fyles’ adviser, it could raise even more serious concerns about propriety, given his interests with Tamboran.

“It just seems to be your politicians are incapable of dealing with these things. This should be referred to the anti-corruption body,” he said.

The NT Independent has since been told by Labor sources that Mr Richardson has attended Cabinet meetings – and would have had access as a senior adviser to Cabinet agendas and other documents – which could have potentially given him access to sensitive conversations and information involving different gas companies and a potential inside edge on the NT Government’s intentions around gas policies.

Mr Richardson and Ms Fyles refused again on Wednesday to respond to questions about his alleged involvement in Cabinet meetings.

While it is unclear when precisely Brookline Advisory – and Mr Richardson and Ms Ivanovski – started lobbying for the gas industry, federal records show they publicly disclosed their company as Tamboran’s official lobbyist on November 8 for the first time.

The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction in the country without a lobbyist register.

Calls for investigation into Fyles’ office to restore public trust

Independent teal Member of Parliament Monique Ryan issued a statement on Tuesday calling for a “full investigation” into Ms Fyles’ office.

“Chief Minister Fyles and her senior adviser have questions to answer,” she said.

“Voters have the right to expect that politicians and their advisers make decisions in the public’s best interests, not their own. The public expects government employees to avoid situations in which their decision-making could be influenced, or could be perceived to be influenced, by financial considerations.

“There should be a full investigation into the matter to ensure there are no conflicts of interest so the public can have confidence in the decisions being made about Middle Arm and the Beetaloo Basin.”

Ms Ryan has been a fierce critic of the Middle Arm industrial project, calling on the Federal Labor Government to withdraw its funding commitment for the gas and petrochemical hub, which she said will not reap the economic benefits for the Territory Ms Fyles has been promoting and had the potential to cause more harm than good.

“There is a degree of urgency to this matter given Middle Arm – the gas precinct that would unleash a 1.4 billion tonne carbon bomb if built – has already attracted such significant controversy,” Ms Ryan said.

“Climate scientists have warned the project could produce half of Australia’s carbon emissions in the 25 years to 2050; doctors have warned it could increase rates of cancer and other illnesses in the Territory; and economists have warned it would do little for the Territory economy, with the vast majority of the profits going to overseas companies.”

Ms Fyles, who was in Canberra on Tuesday for National Cabinet meetings, has refused to comment on her adviser’s connections to the gas industry or if she was aware his company was a lobbyist for Tamboran.

Tamboran is the largest gas player in the Beetaloo Basin and expects to begin production in the region as early as next year. It was given the greenlight to frack the Beetaloo by the Fyles Government in May, before all the recommendations from the Pepper Inquiry were implemented.

In June, Tamboran, along with five other companies, was provided an exclusive land commitment at Middle Arm, which it intends to use to build a massive LNG facility.

The company is currently undergoing feasibility works on the project and has already signed MOUs with major gas companies to use the facility.

Former Labor chief ministers involved in Middle Arm project

The Guardian and the ABC revealed in June that former chief minister Paul Henderson and former Dow Chemicals CEO and Darwin-born businessman Andrew Liveris recommended the NT Government employ major international lobbying firm Dragoman to lobby the then-Coalition Federal Government in 2021 for funding for the Middle Arm project.

Both men had co-chaired the NT’s Economic Reconstruction Commission post-COVID, which recommended the NT build a manufacturing precinct.

Dragoman was awarded more than $150,000 to lobby the federal government without going to public tender, which it did successfully, resulting in the Coalition announcing $1.5 billion for Middle Arm last year, which was matched by Labor on the campaign trail days later.

Ms Fyles has previously claimed that Middle Arm could create up to 20,000 indirect jobs when it reaches full-scale development but has not explained how she arrived at that figure.

The other four companies Ms Fyles offered exclusive land offerings to at Middle Arm include Tivan, Total Eren, Avenira and Fortescue Future Industries. FFI has proposed a green hydrogen and green ammonia production plant, as well as export facilities.

Former chief minister Michael Gunner took a role with FFI six months after resigning from Parliament last May.

Ms Fyles said in June that conflicts of interest involving Mr Gunner had been “managed”, but did not explain how.

“We work very hard to manage conflict of interests,” she told the ABC at the time. “It’s a small community, everyone deserves a career post-politics.

“I’m confident they [conflicts] have been declared and managed”.

Ms Ryan said the Federal Government needed to withdraw its funding commitment for Middle Arm and Ms Fyles’ office needed to be investigated for potential conflicts of interest.