The husband of Labor minister Meegan Fitzharris will stand down from his role with a company working on the GWS Giants' $800 million Manuka redevelopment plans.
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Pierre Huetter's resignation from Dowse Projects comes three weeks after it was revealed he was present at a briefing given on the Manuka plans to his wife, who is the Transport and Municipal Services Minister, and a TAMS official on February 18.
"Although I began working at Dowse prior to Meegan's election to the ACT Legislative Assembly, I am very aware of my wife's role and responsibilities and I will seek other work opportunities that require less interaction with the ACT Government," Mr Huetter said in a short statement on Wednesday.
"Meegan and I made this decision to enable us both the best opportunity to care for our three children, while balancing our work responsibilities, and, in our case, contribute to the success of Canberra."
The decision is effective from May 6. Mr Huetter had worked as a project manager with the company since August 2014, five months before Ms Fitzharris was elected, on count-back, to the Legislative Assembly.
Ms Fitzharris said the final decision was made after she met with the Assembly's ethics and integrity adviser Stephen Skehill on Wednesday, but his views had been consistent with previous advice.
"He confirmed to me that both [Pierre's and my] roles can and have been managed appropriately," she said.
"Despite this advice, Pierre and I have decided we would prefer not to have to deal with what is a distraction for both our jobs, especially as we also have three primary school aged children to care for."
Ms Fitzharris said Chief Minister Andrew Barr had "understood" the decision when she told him on Wednesday afternoon, and there had been no pressure on the issue from the man she had worked as chief of staff for prior to her election.
Mr Barr said on Wednesday he supported Mr Huetter's decision, and Ms Fitzharris had demonstrated "complete integrity".
"There has been no conflict of interest in this case," he said.
"Minister Fitzharris made sure of this and independent advice from the Legislative Assembly ethics adviser confirmed it.
"The steps Ms Fitzharris and her family have taken today put it beyond doubt."
Ms Fitzharris said she had written to Mr Barr about her husband's work when she was appointed to the ministry in February, and said three weeks ago she would take "any necessary action to avoid a real or perceived conflict of interest".
She said on Wednesday she planned to suggest to the Chief Minister that she "recuse" herself from the cabinet discussions on the Manuka plans.
Ms Fitzharris said it would be up to each individual to make a call on perceptions.
"Certainly the discussion in the media about whether there was a perception of interest has partly informed our decision, but it's not in isolation, the first three months in a job you weigh up how it impacts on your work-life balance, how busy it is; it's a combination of all of those."
Ms Fitzharris said her husband, who was an adviser to Mr Barr for four years until 2011, had attended, but not spoken at, the presentation on February 18. Mr Barr has said almost every MLA had the opportunity to have the briefing.
A Giants spokesman said this month Dowse would remain involved "throughout the duration of the project" if it was approved.
Mr Barr indicated last week any construction of the high-density aspects of the Manuka Green plan would not occur until after Canberra's first cricket Test in the 2018-19 summer.
