Backroom partyman Ryan Neve (ALP) features on a Labor podcast before the 2024 election

In the lead-up to the NT election, Ryan Neve appeared on the 'Socially Democratic' podcast.
Air date: the 15th of August 2024

As reported by Christoper Walsh of the NT Independent: 

Ryan Neve is the brother-in-law of former Chief Minister Michael Gunner (ALP). Ryan Neve became Michael Gunner's Deputy chief of staff in 2019, a role that saw him working out of Michael Gunner's office. Michael Gunner denied any involvement in hiring Mr Neve.

Ryan Neve was not the only family member of Michael Gunner's working in parliament, as Gunner's mother worked for the then Speaker, Kezia Purick.  

Then Chief Minister Gunner charged taxpayers more than $40,000 for Labor campaign flights with political advisers to remote communities in close electorates Labor was hoping to win during the 2020 caretaker period, against established rules. This travel was approved by Ryan Neve.

The trips were officially claimed as “ministerial travel”, despite no record of meetings taking place. Under the caretaker guidelines, all ministerial expenditure is to be “assessed on a case-by-case basis by the Department of Chief Minister as the administering agency”, this did not occur.   

The matter was referred to the ICAC by the Opposition and an independent MLA.

The NT anti-corruption watchdog’s long-delayed report into Territory Labor’s taxpayer-funded 2020 election campaign ended after three years “no concluded findings” of whether former chief minister Michael Gunner “did or did not engage in improper conduct”, but flagged a secret second report will be provided to current Chief Minister Eva Lawler next month concerning Labor staffers’ involvement.The report focused only on Michael Gunner’s conduct in relation to the misuse of public funds for party political purposes at the 2020 NT general election, including for flights to remote communities in marginal electorates on polling days, despite evidence that others were involved, including brother-in-law, his then deputy chief of staff. 

After Labor’s successful 2020 re-election campaign, Mr Neve was moved back to the department in a new role as executive director of “Team Rebound Implementation” on a new executive-level contract, estimated to be worth well in excess of $200,000 a year. Neve was also given various other job titles, including “COVID-19 roadmap planning team member” and “executive director team rebound implementation”.

Four months before  Michael Gunner quit politics during his budget speech in May 2022, Ryan Neve was moved out of the Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet into being  the “executive director of executive and business services” of the Department of Environment, in it's Palmerston office.. The government was not able to explain if the position he took was ever advertised, or if the proper recruitment process was followed.

Freedom of Information was used by the NT Independent to obtain emails that showed that Ryan Neve was in a campaign leadership role before, during and after the election, writing to NT Electoral Commissioner Iain Loganathan, in one instance calling for a recount without the party’s consent and at one point offering to fill the commissioner in on “all the goss” from the campaign trail, all whilst drawing his taxpayer-funded deputy chief of staff salary (against the code of conduct)

Mr Neve was credited by the party and Mr Gunner for playing a major role in Labor’s 2020 election victory, alongside now convicted child rapist Kent Rowe:    • Former Labor secretary and current co...  

Ryan Neve has since left the public service, but is evidently still involved in the Labor Party

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Elle