Northern Territory Labor MPs say the Chief Minister has deliberately selected an "exclusionary individual" who is "not fit" to be the NT Administrator, as outrage continues around the appointment of David Connolly.
Mr Connolly, the former president of the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association, is due to be sworn in on Friday as the Territory's 24th Administrator after being nominated in December by Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro. The Administrator role — equivalent to a state governor — is intended to be politically neutral and carries a salary of $377,000.
However, the appointment has drawn criticism over Mr Connolly's past social media activity, including criticism of Welcome to Country ceremonies, mockery of Indigenous languages, disparaging remarks about women and the Prime Minister, and jokes about domestic violence.
Labor's Special Envoy for Remote Communities, Marion Scrymgour, described the choice as an "appalling pick" and said she will boycott Friday's swearing-in.
Arguing Mr Connolly is "not fit to be Administrator", Ms Scrymgour — whose electorate of Lingiari covers all remote Indigenous communities in the Territory — said Territorians have "every right to be upset at the Chief Minister for picking this bloke".
"His social media comments attacking Indigenous Australians, mocking domestic violence victim survivors, the sexualisation of female athletes and multiple vulgar references are not those of a suitable for the high office of Administrator," she said.
"His offensive comments and opinions show a complete disconnect with the Northern Territory community."
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Several of Mr Connolly's past posts have resurfaced. In a 2024 comment about Elders charging for Welcome to Country ceremonies, he wrote: "Hmmm welcome to my house; that'll be $3,000 thanks".
In a separate post from 2020, he claimed Indigenous people were fast-tracked through the medical system, saying the "non-Indigenous have to wait on the system, the Indigenous are fast-tracked, and paid for".
"Interestingly, kids from the station school have to self-fund their sport, the Indigenous kids do not have to. The boarding school kids have to fund their travel to and from school, the Indigenous kids do not. The taxpayer pays for it," he said.
"So, I see bias up here in the NT directed at what benefits certain people get, and what others don't get. I see anger at the concessions and unfairness more than any racism."
Late on Wednesday, Mr Connolly apologised for his comments, saying he deeply regretted the social media posts.
"I never intended to cause offence, I am genuinely sorry for the hurt they may have caused members of the community. These posts are no reflection of my personal core values," Mr Connolly said in a statement.
"I understand the responsibilities that come with my role as Administrator of the Northern Territory, it is the greatest honour of my life to be sworn in on Friday, I am committed to upholding the standards the community rightly expects.
"My actions moving forward will demonstrate genuine care and commitment to serving all Territorians."
Speaking on ABC Radio on Wednesday, Labor's Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Northern Australia, Luke Gosling, said he had not been invited to the ceremony and labelled Ms Finocchiaro's "captain's pick" a "disgrace".
"The Administrator holds an important position in the Northern Territory and that's what makes this such a bad decision," Mr Gosling said.
"A really, bad decision because there's been a deliberate decision by the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory to go with an exclusionary individual rather than an inclusionary person that would have brought Territorians together and represented all Territorians."
On Monday, an open letter was sent to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urging him to "immediately rescind" Mr Connolly's appointment to restore public confidence.
The signatories encouraged the PM to "urgently review the advice and process that led to this appointment" and make public the "standards applied in assessing suitability for this constitutional role".
They said the Administrator, as the Crown's representative, "must embody impartiality, restraint, dignity and respect for all Territorians".
"In circumstances where public confidence in the office has been demonstrably undermined, it is incumbent upon you to act to protect the integrity of the institution and the credibility of the Crown's representation in the Northern Territory."
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Last month, the PM ruled out intervening, saying the decision rests with the Territory government.
"The federal cabinet is just a process of agreeing to the recommendation of the Northern Territory Government; there is no precedent whatsoever for the Commonwealth intervening in such a way," he said.
Defending the decision, Ms Scrymgour said: "The Prime Minister has said that while he wouldn't have made the same decision as the CLP, picking an Administrator is an NT Government responsibility. That means it's the Chief Minister who needs to fix this."
"Sadly, she is still refusing to listen to the community and overturn this selection," she added.
Mr Gosling — who alongside Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy and Ms Scrymgour, previously called on Mr Connolly to apologise — said the "social media posts are concerning," and argued Ms Finocchiaro "knew exactly what she was doing when she decided to make this captain's pick".
"She made this decision wide-eyed, knowing exactly what message she was sending, in particular to Aboriginal Territorians, but [also] to the rest of the Territory," he said.
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On Monday, Ms Finocchiaro defended her decision. Despite criticism over Mr Connolly's comments, she said it was the crossbench and opposition who were "making it a race issue".
"He is the Administrator now and people should have some respect," she told Mix 104.9. "People can make mistakes, people can have personal views."
Ms Scrymgour rejected that defence, arguing Mr Connolly's comments "weren't made decades ago". Instead, she said, "They were posted on social media recently and they show how little he values Indigenous Australians, women, domestic violence victim survivors, and other minorities".
"The Chief Minister needs to explain why she's happy for this role to be tarnished by her selection of David Connolly," she added.
