The Northern Territory government has hit back after a panel of independent experts tasked with improving justice outcomes for First Nations people stood down over what they described as a “facade of scrutiny, dialogue and collaboration”, with the territory’s attorney general saying there would be “no more coddling criminals, no more talk-fests, and no more identity politics”.
In a formal letter on Thursday night, seven members of the Northern Territory Justice Policy Partnership (NTJPP) – a non-government panel of independent justice experts and representatives of Aboriginal community-controlled organisations – announced they would suspend their participation for a period of six months due to “a breakdown in genuine dialogue, partnership and shared decision-making”.
An eighth resigned independently on Thursday and a ninth resigned in July, leaving one remaining.
It comes two weeks after the resignation of Yolgnu independent MP Yiŋiya Guyula, the fourth high-profile resignation since the CLP swept into government in 2024.
The letter, sent to the NT’s Department of the Attorney-General and Justice and the group’s government co-chair, said the decision followed repeated attempts by members to bring the partnership back on track.
The NTJPP’s co-chair, Matthew Connop, said the Finocchiaro government had been ignoring members’ advice on crucial policy reform.
"We don’t want to walk away from the table," he said. "But we cannot keep sitting at the table if our advice is ignored and our presence is then used to suggest we agree with decisions we don’t support."
"That isn’t partnership."
The NTJPP, which was established in 2023 under the Closing the Gap agreement, was tasked with developing practical, evidence-based solutions to address the over-representation of First Nations adults and young people in the justice system.
The non-governmental members say they have yet to receive an adequate response to letters sent in October 2024 and May 2025 raising serious concerns about progress toward the closing the gap targets, and that their input had “repeatedly been set aside”.
They allege the NT government has shown a departure from its shared decision-making commitments with other Indigenous-led independent panels, “raising serious questions about whether the NT Government has the ability to work in partnership with experts and organisations who say things the government may not want to hear”.
They said the six-month suspension is not a withdrawal from the work and have “invited the NT Government to use the period to restore genuine partnership and focus on what works to reduce crime”.
The NT attorney general, Marie-Clare Boothby, responded in a public statement on Friday, saying the CLP was elected to reduce crime.
"What these organisations – funded by taxpayers – choose to do is a matter for them, but Territorians have demanded loudly and clearly: no more coddling criminals, no more talk-fests, and no more identity politics," Boothby said.
"That’s why we’re getting on with the job Territorians elected us to do: to reduce crime, rebuild the economy, and restore our unique Territory lifestyle."
Senior Larrakia and Warramunga man Dr Richard Fejo resigned from the Darwin Waterfront Corporation in late 2024 in protest against the new NT government lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10-years-old. He told Guardian Australia he had appealed to the CLP not to make the change before his highly publicised resignation, but was ignored and felt he could not remain.
"When it comes to Closing the Gap, the CLP are running the race in the wrong direction," Fejo said.
"The feeling on the ground in the community is one of fear, because while we don’t blame the police, who are doing their jobs, it’s the way the police are being directed," he said. "It appears to me the CLP strategy is to remove anyone who opposes them, and that includes myself."
