Incoming NT administrator criticised PM and blamed First Nations for crime in 2024 speech

David Connolly, the Northern Territory’s incoming administrator, insulted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and said First Nations people were “the main group responsible” for crime in the Top End in a 2024 speech, it can be revealed. Connolly is due to begin his tenure as administrator — the King’s representative in the territory — next month.

He was chosen by the territory’s Country Liberal chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro. Deleted social media posts and published pieces attributed to Connolly included comments about First Nations people and transgender people. In one NT News post he joked about the Greens: “I was out fighting fire again last night.

According to the Greens I was supposed to go home and committ (sic) domestic violence. Lucky I was too rooted.” In the NT Independent he wrote: “We fight Indigenous lit bushfire indiscriminately and illegally lit in our paddocks every year. There is no science, it is arson. If a white man did it he would be severely fined.” At a 2024 NT Cattlemen’s Association conference he also said: “The main group of people perpetrating these criminal actions have been in Australia for 60,000 years.

The English didn’t send them here. They are the product of failed policy and a soft on crime attitude.” The administrator role is meant to be nonpartisan, and concerns have been raised about Connolly’s past remarks. Geoffrey Watson, director of the Centre for Public Integrity, told the ABC the government should “rethink” the appointment.

Key Topics

Politics, David Connolly, Northern Territory, Anthony Albanese, Lia Finocchiaro, Nt Cattlemen's Association