Among the disturbing footage aired by the television program was vision of 17-year-old Dylan Voller, hooded and strapped by the neck to a chair and left in isolation for nearly two hours, which the ABC said was taken in March 2015.

In responding to the program, Chief Minister Adam Giles blamed a “culture of cover-up” in the Corrections department for not knowing about the incident.

Fellow party member and the Member for Katherine, Mr Westra van Holthe, is taking a similar approach.

“I was shocked, like every other Australian, but I wasn’t aware of specific operational details that happen inside Don Dale,” he said.

“I wasn’t specifically aware of what type of restraint they were using – that never came to my attention.

“That’s an operational matter given the circumstances of the day.”

After the parliamentary debate, and having access to departmental briefings, 13 politicians voted for the mechanical restraint chairs to be used on children. Labor’s nine MLAs voted against it.

Mr Westra van Holthe added that the Police Minister and the government set policy but didn’t dictate to the Commissioner on how to run his operations.

He said it would be up to the Royal Commission set up by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to determine whether measures such as those screened by Four Corners were appropriate or not.

“These are some of the worst offenders in the Northern Territory but that doesn’t excuse the actions in any way, shape or form,” he said. “I’d be at least confident in saying some the measures used would be seen as an absolute last resort.”

One of the major Aboriginal-community controlled organisations in the Barkly says it has lost any confidence in the NT government’s ability to govern the Territory following the fallout from the Four Corners program.

Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation chairman Ross Jakamarra Williams said the Giles government had shown it was not fit to run the Northern Territory.

“The Chief Minister has conducted himself shamefully since the horrific revelations by refusing to take responsibility, shift the blame and continuing to try and demonise our children,” Mr Williams said.

“This is a government that has shown itself to be incompetent, inhumane and dysfunctional. We do not trust them to play any sort of role that involves caring for Aboriginal children.

Mr Jakamarra Williams said AHAC was calling for a new model of providing services to children in the NT’s juvenile justice system.

“The lock them up mindset of the current government can’t continue. We have seen the harm this is causing, it’s hurting our kids and it’s hurting our community. It’s doing nothing to make our communities safer.

“There are better ways of caring for our young people and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations must be involved in implementing these.

“There are successful program models that involve young people going bush on country, learning from elders, gaining skills and respect for themselves and others.”