THE NORTHERN TERRITORY'S STELLA MARIS AFFAIR EXPLAINED:
WHAT IS STELLA MARIS?
Stella Maris is a $3 million historic site in Darwin, built for maritime workers.
WHY IS IT MAKING NEWS?
The Country Liberals government last year held an inquiry into the former Labor government's decision to bypass the usual open tenders process and hand the site to Unions NT on a 10-year lease for no rent.
They did not publicly announce it until weeks after the deal, which took place the day before the government entered the caretaker period for the August 2012 election.
WHAT DID THE INQUIRY FIND?
Commissioner Joh Lawler ruled that Delia Lawrie, Labor's former deputy chief minister, improperly involved herself in the decision to grant the site to Unions NT, acting unfairly and with bias over many years.
He found then Lands and Planning Minister Gerry McCarthy was ultimately responsible for the "unreasonable" decision.
WHAT NEXT?
Ms Lawrie sued Mr Lawler in the Supreme Court, claiming he denied her procedural fairness, but Justice Stephen Southwood in early April dismissed the case. He backed Mr Lawler, and also found Ms Lawrie and her lawyers conspired to undermine, ignore and discredit the inquiry, and made false statements in order to obtain a more favourable outcome.
WHAT DOES MS LAWRIE SAY?
She maintains the decision was the right one to protect the site from developers. She thinks the inquiry was a Country Liberals beat-up and rejects both sets of findings. She is considering an appeal.
WHAT DOES THE LABOR PARTY THINK?
Ms Lawrie lost support of five of her seven parliamentary colleagues, who on April 15 called for a leadership spill. This process was due to take about a month tallying their votes along with the party membership. Ms Lawrie refused to step down in the interim.
But four days later she resigned when police confirmed they were investigating her.
WHAT NOW?
Police will conduct their investigation into whether she tabled court documents containing false statements, and Ms Lawrie has not yet confirmed whether she will appeal the Supreme Court findings.
The parliamentary privileges committee is waiting in the wings, and once all the legal actions are complete, will make its own findings about whether she and former deputy Gerry McCarthy breached ethical standards. That's potentially punishable with a jail term.
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