Eva Lawler will be the Northern Territory’s new chief minister, according to multiple statements from members of the Labor government.
Current NT Treasurer Ms Lawler is set to replace outgoing chief minister Natasha Fyles, who yesterday resigned after was uncovered she owned undisclosed shares in a mining company with interests in the territory.
Chansey Paech, who is currently the attorney-general and Aboriginal affairs minister, will be the next deputy chief minister.
The Labor Caucus met this afternoon and made the decision unanimously.
Ms Lawler and Mr Paech will be sworn into their positions on Thursday.
“The Territory Labor Government is completely focused on creating jobs, tackling cost of living pressures and making the Territory safer,” Ms Lawler said in a statement.
“Those are our priorities because those are Territorians priorities.”
Prominent cabinet member Nicole Manison, who announced her contention for the leadership following Ms Fyles’s resignation, will move to the backbench with Ms Fyles.
“I want to send my best wishes to Eva Lawler,” Ms Manison said.
Ms Manison is currently the Northern Territory’s deputy chief minister and holds the portfolios of mining, industry and trade, and renewables and energy.
Ms Lawler thanked Ms Manison for her “hard work over the last seven years in Cabinet and the work that she has put into growing the territory’s jobs and economy”.
Northern Territory Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro, responding to the announcement, said Ms Lawler was a “key figure” in a government that had “mishandled countless integrity issues, sky rocketing crime and an economy going backwards”.
The rise of Ms Lawler comes after Natasha Fyles yesterday conceded the damaging shares scandal gave her no choice but to step down.
At a press conference Tuesday Ms Fyles confirmed reports she had failed to disclose a small shareholding in South32, which owned a manganese mine on the remote NT community of Groote Eylandt.
Earlier this year, Ms Fyles, who was also health minister, said the government would not investigate health concerns or air pollution levels stemming from the mine’s activity following calls from concerned local residents.
(ABC)
