The appointment of a new Northern Territory administrator has sparked protests, following resurfaced social media posts.
On Friday, a Larrakia Elder was arrested outside NT’s Parliament, where he was protesting the appointment of David Connolly to the largely ceremonial role.
Connolly’s past social media posts included language the NT Opposition Leader Selena Uibo called “offensive”.
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro swore Connolly in on Friday.
Administrator
Australia’s head of state is the Governor-General, who acts as the King’s representative. Each state has a Governor, who performs a similar role.
In the NT and some of Australia’s external territories, such as Norfolk Island, the role is called an ‘administrator’.
- signing Territory bills into law;
- officiating ceremonies; and
- honouring citizens, such as with Orders of Australia.
It is a non-partisan role which pays $377,000 per year.
Connolly
David Connolly has lived and worked in rural and remote parts of the NT for around 20 years, including on cattle stations and the Territory’s first commercial cotton farm.
Connolly has served as director of the National Farmers’ Federation and president of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association.
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In a statement, Finocchiaro said Connolly had “demonstrated strong advocacy and leadership” of the cattle industry in 2011, when the Federal Government banned the export of live cows. Connolly opposed the ban.
Social media posts
Upon the announcement of Connolly, Finocchiaro was criticised after his now-deleted posts resurfaced.
In one X post from 2020, he said: “Non-Indigenous have to wait on the system, the Indigenous are fast-tracked, and paid for”.
More than a quarter of Territorians are First Nations, according to the 2021 census.
A separate thread of posts saw Connolly join in jokes about drugging women.
In an apology published by the National Indigenous Times, Connolly said: “I deeply regret the past social media posts I made; I never intended to cause offence.”
“I am genuinely sorry for the hurt they may have caused members of the community,” he said.
Connolly said: “These posts are no reflection of my personal core values.”
Speaking to ABC Radio Darwin, Finocchiaro said the posts “have nothing to do with racism” but “with inequality between people based on race.”
Protests
Earlier this week, Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said she would boycott Connolly’s swearing-in ceremony.
During the ceremony, a group of around 100 protesters gathered outside the NT Parliament, including Federal and Territory MPs.
Demonstrators were heard shouting “not my administrator”.
Police confirmed a 61-year-old man was arrested for trespassing. NT News identified the man as Larrakia Elder Eric Fejo.
