The Northern Territory’s incoming administrator levelled a series of insults at Anthony Albanese and claimed First Nations people were “the main group responsible” for crime in the Top End in a 2024 speech, it can be revealed.
David Connolly is due to begin his tenure as administrator – King Charles’s representative in the territory, which is the equivalent of a state governor – next month. A former NT Cattlemen’s Association president, Connolly was chosen for the role by the territory’s Country Liberal chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro.
But the appointment has come under significant scrutiny in Darwin after the emergence of past – and now deleted – social media posts by Connolly, including about First Nations people and transgender people.
In one post published in the NT News, taken from a public account in which he reportedly said “my personal account, my personal views” in the bio, Connolly made a joke about the Greens with a reference to domestic violence.
“I was out fighting fire again last night. According to the Greens I was supposed to go home and committ [sic] domestic violence. Lucky I was too rooted.”
In another, published in the NT Independent, he said: “We fight Indigenous lit bushfire indiscriminately and illegally lit in our paddocks every year. There is no science, it is arson. If a white man did it he would be severely fined. After experiencing this, you cannot convince me they are doing good for the country.”
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
The administrator’s role is supposed to be nonpartisan, and concerns are mounting that Connolly has previously been outspoken and critical of politicians and certain policies. The director of the Centre for Public Integrity, Geoffrey Watson, told the ABC the government should “rethink” the appointment before Connolly moves in to Government House.
Adding fuel to a growing fire in the Top End is the emergence of a speech from the NT Cattlemen’s Association conference in 2024, in which Connolly rails about “leftwing” activists, environmentalists, the voice referendum and the territory’s efforts to establish a treaty with First Nations people.
He is highly critical of several Labor politicians, particularly the prime minister.
“Anthony Albanese lied when elected, in saying that ‘no matter how you voted, the government he led would respect all of the people every day’. Well, he was lying then and he continues to lie [about the 2011 live export case] to this day,” Connolly said in his speech.
He later described Albanese’s campaign to establish a First Nations voice to parliament as “so arrogant, so ignorant, so threatening, and so wrong”.
Connolly said “soft Labor party policies on crime” and a “weak judiciary” had caused crime problems in the territory.
Referring to a comment by the former chief minister, Eva Lawler, that linked crime issues to Australia’s colonial history as a penal colony, Connolly said: “Hang on a minute. Let’s speak honestly about this for once.
“The main group of people perpetrating these criminal actions have been in Australia for 60,000 years. The English didn’t send them here. They are the product of failed policy and a soft on crime attitude.”
Finocchiaro has defended her nomination of Connolly as administrator after the social media posts surfaced.
But the NT Labor leader, Selena Uibo, said the government should reconsider the appointment.
“Mr Connolly is undoubtedly a strong advocate for our cattle industry,” Uibo said. “However, the role of administrator is to bring the territory together and represent all Territorians with integrity, respect and political neutrality.
“Public comments attributed to Mr Connolly have raised serious questions about whether he can meet those standards and carry out the role in a way that unites the community.”
Connolly has yet to comment publicly on the emergence of his old X accounts or previous statements. Reports from Darwin suggest the account was deleted after journalists started asking questions.
In December, after his appointment was announced, Connolly told the ABC’s Country Hour that “I certainly won’t be expressing any political opinion publicly”.
“I’ll still have an opinion. And I’m allowed to express that opinion,” he said. “But … this position is not a political position. It’s not used to influence politicians, or the political atmosphere.”
In the 2024 speech, he acknowledged he was known for having firm views.
“I’m yet to be accused of not speaking my mind directly,” he said.
“I don’t offer offence, but you are free to take it. And until I got a Twitter account I thought backlash was an 80s rock band.”
In a 2023 speech he said: “Of course the problem is the left want to decide the agenda and you can only speak if you agree with that agenda.”
In response to questions about Connolly at a press conference on Friday, Finocchiaro said the government had “selected someone who’s going to fight for the territory and put our economy first, and that’s what we need in an administrator”.
“I think it’s going to be a change of pace and I really think Territorians are going to love him.”
