The former Northern Territory police commissioner has denied he had a conflict of interest despite resigning from the top job on Wednesday following accusations he may have influenced a criminal investigation involving a person with whom he had a personal relationship.
The accusations of a conflict of interest pertain to an ongoing criminal investigation, although the Northern Territory government would not give further details on either the case or the alleged relationship between John McRoberts and the person involved.
It has been reported the case is that of high profile real estate agent and chair of Crimestoppers NT, Alexandra Kamitsis, who is facing charges of fraud relating to a government travel subsidy scheme. Kamitsis was arrested in November.
McRoberts told media on Wednesday night that he didn’t accept that he had a conflict of interest. He said he resigned that morning when the allegations were put to him to allow the NT police fire and emergency service workers to continue their “important job.”
“They ought not be distracted from their important work by a sideshow involving the commissioner or the chief executive officer, and it is for that reason I made the decision today to resign effective immediately so the people I’m so proud of can get on with the important job of keeping people in the Northern Territory safe.”
In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon the acting chief minister, Peter Chandler, said the evidence suggested there “may have been some influence” on the part of McRoberts.
The NT government had “lost confidence” in McRoberts and his position was no longer tenable.
“The government had acted swiftly and decisively when it became aware of the matter,” Chandler said in a statement.
“The integrity of the commissioner of police must be beyond reproach. The government has considered the available facts in this matter and believes that resignation is necessary to maintain public confidence in NT police.”
McRoberts is now the subject of a formal police investigation.
Information regarding McRoberts’s actions was given to Chandler on Friday, and the minister spent the following days investigating it to satisfy himself, a spokesman for Chandler told Guardian Australia.
The evidence – which was obtained through an ongoing criminal investigation – was then put to McRoberts by the NT government “and his reaction was to resign,” the spokesman said.
McRoberts was less than one year into a renewed five-year contract as police commissioner.
He was first appointed to the role in 2009, leaving his position in Western Australia as the state’s assistant commissioner in charge of WA police counter-terrorism and state protection.
Reece Kershaw, former assistant commissioner of the Darwin Metropolitan Service, has been appointed acting commissioner.
Chandler’s spokesman said the government would be conducting a “full and frank recruitment campaign” for a permanent replacement.
The Northern Territory police association said the resignation came as a surprise.
“The loss of a police commissioner combined with the lack of substantive deputy commissioner, as has been the case for the past nine months, presents a unique challenge for the Northern Territory police executive and the Northern Territory government,” its acting president, Col Goodsell, said in a statement.
“We hope that the government moves quickly to fill both positions with the best qualified candidates.”
