The NTDPP confirmed the appointment of Ms Callan, a high-profile barrister with experience in corruption prosecutions and the Lindt Cafe siege inquest, to take over the prosecution. A spokesperson said the decision was made "to avoid any conflict of interest arising for the NTDPP" and that the matter would "continue in the ordinary course before the courts."
Mr Gosling denies the allegations and has indicated he will contest the charges. At his first court appearance in July, his lawyer Marty Aust SC described the first alleged incident as occurring "in a manner in which the administrator was unable to see the approach." Court documents indicate the second charge relates to an alleged hip-and-shoulder collision during which Mr Gosling is said to have drawn back his left elbow and struck Mr Connolly in the upper rib.
The case has expanded since then. Mr Gosling was charged with breaching his bail on August 14, a matter that emerged in late August. He subsequently stepped aside as special envoy for defence, veterans' affairs and northern Australia, with his office citing the "distraction" the matter was causing the Albanese government.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions declined to take on the case in late August, leaving it with the NTDPP. Ms Callan, who has previously appeared for the Crown in the corruption trials of former NSW politicians Ian Macdonald and Eddie Obeid and as counsel assisting in the Lindt Cafe siege inquest, also worked in the NT as a crown prosecutor during a murder trial.