The selection of a political staffer and the Territory’s second highest ranked public servant to new
Commissioner roles shows the Chief Minister is shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic as it sinks.
Opposition Leader, Lia Finocchiaro, says the $300,000-a-year appointments are politically tainted
and show the Chief Minister’s lack of vision when it comes to implementing the TERC
recommendations.
Neither position has any new powers or teeth to get the job done.
“Andrew Cowan is currently the second highest ranked public servant in the NT and responsible for
overseeing all investment decisions now,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.
“If this system isn’t working, how will a change in title fix that? Why has he been promoted? And will
he stay Deputy CEO of the Chief Minister’s Department?
“Jason Schoolmeester, who is a current Labor adviser on the fifth floor and best mate of Michael
Gunner, has been promoted as he leaps off the sinking ship into a shiny new role safe on land. It is
the ultimate ‘jobs for the boys’.
“Prior to joining Michael Gunner’s political team, Jason Schoolmeester was the Executive Director
with Investment Territory. It sounds like he has his old job back with a new title.
“It’s notable the Chief Minister’s abysmal lack of vision meant he looked no further to fill these two
important positions than across the road and within his own office.
“If the reason the Chief Minister needs to create three Commissioner roles is because they system is
broken, then why are people who were key parts of the broken system being promoted.”
Mrs Finocchiaro says the appointments show the Chief Minister is prepared to flout the actual
recommendations of the TERC report.
“Instead of the ‘single point of coordination’ recommended by the TERC inquiry and the CLP’s
Territory Co-ordinator legislation, Labor will appoint not one, but three new highly paid
commissioners,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.
ENDS