00:00 Chief Minister Natasha Files is expected to resign. That's what the ABC understands. Multiple
00:07 sources close to the Chief Minister this morning saying that her leadership is likely to end
00:12 at a press conference this afternoon. She's expected to fly into the Northern Territory
00:17 at some stage this morning after returning from a trip interstate. Now, this all follows
00:22 the revelations that she owned around $2,000 worth of shares in mining company South 32.
00:28 Now, that company owns a mine on Groote Eiland in the Northern Territory which has been subject
00:35 to complaints from locals about what they believe are health impacts from that mine.
00:40 And it was in her capacity as Health Minister that Natasha Files said that they would not
00:44 be investigating those allegations that that mine is having health impacts on them. And
00:50 transparency experts have said that this stakeholding in South 32 does pose some problems. So it
00:57 has put the Chief under immense pressure. And as we're now beginning to understand,
01:02 the ABC now understands that she will resign from her post or is expected to resign this
01:08 afternoon when she arrives back in Darwin later today.
01:13 This is not the first sort of damaging headline regarding the Chief Minister's share portfolio.
01:20 Several months ago or two months ago, it was revealed that she owned $5,000 worth of shares
01:24 in gas company Woodside which had some involvement with the Middle Arm Sustainable Development
01:28 Precinct in Darwin Harbour. She divested those shares after saying that it had become a distraction.
01:35 But this latest revelation of $2,000 worth of shares in South 32 has obviously put her
01:41 in a position where she is now expected to resign this afternoon, Mel.
01:46 So Tom, a lot more expected this afternoon. What happens next?
01:49 Well, obviously that throws open the leadership of the Territory Labor Party in Parliament,
01:55 which means that we will potentially by the end of this week have a new Chief Minister.
02:00 Now who exactly that Chief Minister will be, it's not yet quite sure. And it's obviously
02:05 a matter that will, you know, I guess be determined by inside the Labor caucus in the coming hours
02:13 and days. But expect that to be the big question that will be posed after Natasha Files resigns
02:19 this afternoon. And nonetheless, it's the second national Territory leader after Anastasia
02:25 Palaszczuk in the last week to resign from her post.
02:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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