Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has followed her predecessor and fled from the NT Independent at a press conference Wednesday morning, leaving in the government SUV so quickly that her media adviser was left standing in the road.

Ms Fyles, currently embroiled in a shares scandal first exposed by the NT Independent last week, was at a construction site in the Darwin CBD for a scheduled press conference this morning.

After unsuccessfully attempting to get representatives from the companies involved in the project to remove the NT Independent before the press conference started, she finally relented and spoke briefly about the project.

She took no questions and later fled the scene, leaving her adviser Jasmine Roussos standing in the road as the white Lexus SUV peeled away before she could open her door.

NT Independent editor Chris Walsh spoke to journalists at the press conference after, condemning Ms Fyles for not taking questions from the media.

“We wanted to ask her about the last minister who breached the ministerial code of conduct, who had to resign, and why it is she is not resigning,” Walsh said.

“But this Chief Minister is clearly afraid of answering tough questions.”

Ms Fyles has come under intense pressure to resign, following revelations she breached the ministerial code of conduct by not immediately divesting her personal shares in Woodside Energy, a gas giant with an interest in the Middle Arm industrial precinct. Ms Fyles has made the Middle Arm project the focal point of her leadership and has used taxpayer money to promote the project around the country.

Leading national integrity expert Geoffrey Watson, a director of the Centre for Public Integrity and former counsel assisting the NSW ICAC, told the NT Independent on Monday that Ms Fyles was in “clear breach” of the ministerial code of conduct for not divesting her shares in Woodside last year and called on Parliament and Cabinet to review the matter.

However, no action has been taken to date and before today Ms Fyles had not held a press conference since last Thursday, when she claimed she was divesting the shares “to end this distraction”.

She has not answered a single question about the breach of the ministerial code of conduct.

Former Labor and current independent MLA Mark Turner said on Tuesday that the Willem Westra van Holthe shares scandal should provide guidance for Ms Fyles, while calling for Labor’s Cabinet to properly address her breach to preserve the integrity of Parliament.

“We saw the furore from the Labor Party over Willem Westra van Holthe and his alleged attempts to purchase shares in a Vietnamese dragon fruit company,” he said.

“He ultimately resigned over the matter. It is incumbent on the Chief Minister and now Cabinet to explain to the community why it is one rule for them and another for everyone else.

“To ignore such blatant ethical violations is to undermine the very foundations of our governmental institutions and to erode the trust the public places in us.”

Back in 2016, the then-Labor opposition asked Parliament: “What is the point of a code of conduct when you see behaviour like this go completely undisciplined by a CLP government and Chief Minister?”

Mr Westra van Holthe resigned three days later, while also stating he had done nothing wrong, but said he was resigning as deputy chief minister to avoid being a distraction from his government’s business.

In August, Ms Fyles lied to the National Press Club during a televised speech, when she claimed that the NT Independent reported “misinformation” and is “not a professional organisation”. Those allegations were strongly refuted by Walsh.

The NT Independent was since named as a finalist for a Walkley Award, which will be held this Thursday evening in Sydney.

Ms Fyles’ actions to avoid questions follows former chief minister Michael Gunner’s approach. He also famously fled from the NT Independent at a press conference back in June 2020.

It was unclear if Ms Roussos was forced to walk back to Parliament House Wednesday morning.