Further links between CLP and gas firm emerge as ex-staffer's shares revealed

Further links between the Northern Territory government and gas producer Beetaloo Energy have emerged, with a former ministerial staffer insisting she disclosed her shareholdings in the company before starting the government job.

Sonia Harvey was hired by the office of NT Treasurer and Infrastructure Minister Bill Yan in March 2025, after working for Beetaloo Energy (formerly Empire Energy) as "government and community relations vice-president" for three years until July 2024.

Ms Harvey said she left Mr Yan's office in September this year for "personal reasons", having advised him on infrastructure and logistics policy.

That same month, the ABC reported NT Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley had been spruiking Beetaloo Energy without publicly disclosing that his sister-in-law worked at the firm.

Beetaloo Energy's share register shows throughout Ms Harvey's tenure in Mr Yan's office, she held 62,500 shares in the company, which would be currently worth around $13,750.

The ABC does not suggest any wrongdoing by Ms Harvey, who said she disclosed her Beetaloo Energy shareholdings "as part of [a] pre-employment check".

"I have complied with the relevant requirements applying to ministerial staff, including in relation to the declaration and management of conflicts of interest," she said.

During Ms Harvey's time in Mr Yan's office, the NT government signed an agreement with Beetaloo Energy, securing appraisal gas from its Beetaloo Basin fracking project for the NT energy grid.

Appraisal gas is extracted by companies during the testing phase of a project.

At the time, Beetaloo Energy chief executive Alex Underwood said the appraisal deal had enabled the firm to reach a final investment decision on its Beetaloo Basin project.

The appraisal deal was signed after both Beetaloo Energy and Tamboran Resources inked 10-year gas supply agreements with the former NT Labor government in 2024, amid concerns about ongoing gas supply shortages in the territory.

The details of this latest gas deal have been kept secret by the Country Liberal Party government for "commercial in confidence" reasons.

Ms Harvey said she was not privy to any information regarding the Beetaloo Energy gas supply appraisal agreement and said she had "no engagement" with the company while working in Mr Yan's office.

According to her Linkedin profile, Ms Harvey's connection to the NT gas industry goes back to 2015, when she founded and became chief executive of the gas-focused Energy Club NT.

Infrastructure contracts awarded during tenure

During Ms Harvey's tenure in Mr Yan's office, the infrastructure minister announced tenders relating to the Beetaloo Basin, including a $68 million contract for the design and construction of stage three of the Carpentaria Highway upgrade — a service road connecting the Beetaloo Basin to the NT's main highway.

In total, the federal and NT governments have allocated a combined $262 million to the Carpentaria Highway upgrade.

The territory contributed $52 million, of which $15 million was allocated in the 2025-26 financial year, an NT Department of Logistics and Infrastructure spokesperson said.

In May 2025, Mr Yan also announced a contract worth more than $900,000 for "technical advice" to help with planning for the Territory Energy Link — "a proposed multi-user, multi-asset infrastructure corridor stretching from Elliott to Darwin".

"It will connect the Beetaloo to Darwin and the world," he said at the time.

Ms Harvey said she was not "responsible [for] setting government budget or funding decisions".

"I was also not responsible for procurement processes or the assessment and award of tenders," she said.

"Procurement matters are managed by the department in accordance with established processes.

"The roads you have identified form part of the infrastructure program, supported through existing Commonwealth and Northern Territory funding arrangements, that were approved prior to my employment."

'Serious conflict of interest'

Transparency International Australia chief executive Clancy Moore said the NT government needed to explain how Ms Harvey's conflict was managed.

"A ministerial adviser holding shares in a company affected by their minister's decisions raises a serious conflict of interest that needs to be explained and addressed," he said.

"There should be a clear account of when the shares were disclosed, who assessed the conflict and what safeguards covered both participation in decisions and access to confidential information.

"Sunlight is always the best disinfectant and the NT government's transparency of information can only lead to greater public trust in procurement decisions."

In response to questions about how the conflict was managed, a spokesperson for Mr Yan only said Ms Harvey had declared her interests in line with the NT ministerial staff code of conduct.

Under the code, staff must "ensure their personal or financial interests do not influence or interfere, or be perceived to influence or interfere, with the performance of their duties or role".

They must also "complete a 'declaration and management of conflict of interest form' to the chief of staff regarding any perceived, potential or actual conflict of interest at the earliest opportunity".

Despite requests from the ABC, neither Ms Harvey nor the NT government provided a copy of the declaration and management of conflict of interest form.

The ABC lodged a Freedom of Information request for the form last week, but it is yet to be acknowledged by the chief minister's office.

In September, the ABC reported Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley had been spruiking Beetaloo Energy's data centre project while not publicly disclosing that his sister-in-law worked for the firm.

Mr Maley said his sister-in-law handed out press releases at a media conference to announce the data centre project, but she was not publicly identified by him at the time.

He said he had declared the conflict in accordance with the ministerial code of conduct but did not provide written evidence to the ABC when requested.

The rules did not require Mr Maley to make his disclosure public, but integrity experts said there needed to be more transparency about how potential conflict declarations were made.