NT Labor leader referred to police

NT's attorney-general has referred Delia Lawrie to police over her recent Supreme Court challenge, alleging she may have committed a crime over a land deal.

Delia Lawrie in 2009. (AAP)

Delia Lawrie in 2009. (AAP)

The Northern Territory's embattled Labor Opposition Leader Delia Lawrie has been referred to police for possible breaches of criminal law as she fights to retain leadership of her party.

Police said on Saturday that the NT Attorney-General referred to them the recent judgment of Lawrie v Lawler, which will be investigated by Commander Peter Bravos of a new specialised investigative unit.

The parliamentary wing of the NT Labor Party on Wednesday agreed to a leadership spill after five of the eight members decided they would not be able to win next year's election with Ms Lawrie at the helm.

Her position has been rocky since early April when Justice Stephen Southwood dismissed her Supreme Court case against Commissioner John Lawler.

He headed an inquiry last year into the way the then-Labor government bypassed the usual open tenders process to hand a historic Darwin site to Unions NT on a ten-year lease for no rent, the day before entering the caretaker period for the August 2012 election.

Ms Lawrie accused Mr Lawler of denying her procedural fairness, which Justice Southwood rejected.

He also found that she and her lawyers made false statements about the matter as part of a concerted strategy to ignore, undermine and discredit Mr Lawler and the inquiry.

Ms Lawrie rejected the findings and is considering an appeal.

She maintains the Unions NT deal was the right decision to protect the site from developers.

She said she would not step down as leader during the next month as Labor goes through a laborious ballot process to vote for a new leader, which involves the membership as well as the parliamentary wing.

With only three votes out of eight, Ms Lawrie will need about 60 per cent of the membership's vote to retain power against challenger Michael Gunner, the Member for Fannie Bay.

The government says it is considering referring Ms Lawrie to the privileges committee for potentially lying to Parliament over the Unions NT deal.

Police say they are currently assessing the matter and have not yet decided whether to proceed with prosecution.

Ms Lawrie's office has been contacted for comment.


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