MP Luke Gosling vows to seek Labor preselection despite pending assault case

In short:

Darwin-based Labor MP Luke Gosling, who is facing charges of assaulting the NT administrator and breaching bail, says he will again seek preselection ahead of the next federal election.

Mr Gosling denies all the charges, and says Territorians will look back on his arrest and prosecution and "shake their head[s]".

What's next?

Mr Gosling is due to return to court later this month.

Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling says he will seek preselection again ahead of the next election, despite unresolved assault and breach of bail charges hanging over his head.

The Darwin-based Member for Solomon has been charged with two counts of assaulting Northern Territory Administrator David Connolly at the NT Thai Grand Festival in July.

Mr Gosling was subsequently charged with breaching his bail in August.

He denies all the allegations and his lawyer, Marty Aust SC, told the Darwin Local Court last month he would write to prosecutors requesting the charges be withdrawn due to "insufficient evidence".

Speaking at a press conference this morning alongside three Country Liberal Party (CLP) members of the NT parliament, Mr Gosling reaffirmed his view that his arrest had been politicised.

"I'll absolutely be running for preselection to keep representing the people of Solomon through our normal party processes," he said.

"I've been so encouraged by the support from not only my party members here in the Northern Territory, but everyday Territorians who see very clearly what is happening here and are wishing me all the best and all the support they can possibly give me.

"No distractions, no politicisation of processes that may be used against political opponents from time to time will distract me from that important work."

In September, Mr Aust told the court in relation to the assault charges there was "not a single eyewitness to any event, nor a witness that gives opportunity for an event to occur".

"Save except for [Mr Connolly's wife] who puts it at a different place, at a different time and a different description," he said at the time.

"It has all the hallmarks of confusion or collusion."

Mr Gosling said in the future, Territorians would look back on his arrest and prosecution and find it hard to believe.

"This will in the future go down as something that the Territory will look at, shake their head, but ultimately move on from, as I have already, because the job that I have never stopped doing every day is delivering for the people of Darwin and Palmerston," he said.

Renewed scrutiny on administrator's appointment

A former president of the NT Cattlemen's Association, David Connolly was appointed to the role of NT administrator by the CLP government in December.

The NT administrator serves as the Crown's representative in the Territory, in a vice-regal role equivalent to a state governor.

In the lead-up to Mr Connolly's February swearing-in, there were calls for his appointment to be rescinded after past social media posts emerged from his deleted X (formerly Twitter) account.

Some of the posts were labelled as "racist" and "denigrating of women".

The night before he was sworn in, Mr Connolly apologised to people who may have been hurt by the posts, saying he deeply regretted them.

Asked today if there should be renewed scrutiny over Mr Connolly's appointment if the charges against him were thrown out, Mr Gosling said the saga had been "a real education [and] eye-opener as to some of the dynamics going on here in the Northern Territory".

"It is obviously an issue for others to reflect on different appointments that have been made at different times," he said.

"In the federal Labor team, we believe in strong cabinet processes, we believe in Caucus members having a say, and I think that is the way of good government.

"Captain's picks aren't the way of good government, generally. That is true across the board."

Responding to Mr Gosling's comments at the press conference, the CLP's Youth, Seniors and Equality Minister Jinson Charls said the NT government had already provided responses about Mr Connolly's appointment.

He said if Mr Gosling's charges were dropped, the NT government would provide a further response about the appointment "if that question is still relevant at that point in time".

Territory Labor president Clare Martin said preselections for the next federal election were not yet open either in the NT or nationally.

She said the timing would be determined by Labor's federal executive.