Former Attorney-General rejects claims he ignored complaint which led to rape charges

FORMER Attorney-General John Elferink has rejected claims he “didn’t believe” a Darwin barrister who went to him with concerns investigators had done no work on a complaint about a senior NT Police officer now charged with four counts of rape.

Former Attorney-General John Elferink.

FORMER Attorney-General John Elferink has rejected claims he “didn’t believe” a Darwin barrister who went to him with concerns investigators had done no work on a complaint about a senior NT Police officer now charged with four counts of rape.

Barrister Georgia McMaster told the first day of the officer’s committal hearing she went to Mr Elferink as a “concerned citizen” after hearing the now-defunct Office of the Commissioner for Public Interest Disclosures had received a complaint and no action had been taken for three months.

But in a statement to the NT News, Mr Elferink said: “Ms McMaster’s complaints were taken very seriously and were acted upon.”

“Because Ms McMaster had raised the issue of a lack of confidence in the police investigating a senior officer, I referred the matter to Brenda Monaghan the Commissioner for Public Interest Disclosures immediately and requested that she contact the Commissioner for Police to oversight the investigation,” he said.

“The reason that was done was to ensure that there was an external body engaged with the police to ensure that a proper investigation was carried out.

“Once satisfied that the matter was under proper investigation, in accordance with the law of the Northern Territory and that matter was being properly oversighted by an independent Commissioner, I took no further part in the matter as it was an operational matter for police.”

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Darwin Local Court.

The officer, who cannot yet be named, was last year charged with four counts of rape.

Two of the allegations date from 2004, while another two, relating to a second victim, date from 2006.

Ms McMaster said after meeting with Mr Elferink, she got a call from the then-Public Interest Disclosures Commissioner, Brenda Monaghan, who confirmed no work had been done on the complaint.

The police officer’s barrister, John Lawrence SC, quizzed Ms McMaster at length about the work she had done as a public prosecutor, lecturing at the NT Police College, and working briefly as an in-house lawyer for NT Police.

Mr Lawrence also quizzed Ms McMaster about her friendships and association with a number of senior NT Police officers.

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Ms McMaster said an “informant” approached her concerned about a lack of progress with the investigation.

“She asked if it was usual for a complaint to be made and nothing to be done for three months, and I said no, it’s not usual as far as I know,” Ms McMaster said.

“I didn’t do anything immediately, I think I was quite taken aback by the information that had been given to me and I spoke with a senior legal person that I rely on …”

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Ms McMaster said she eventually decided to speak directly with one of the alleged victims, before approaching Mr Elferink.

Ms McMaster said both she and the alleged victim had concerns about the “integrity of the system”, and the ability for NT Police to investigate a serious allegation against a top officer.

“ICAC wasn’t in force at the time but we did talk about the possibility of it coming on line at that point.”

“Police investigating police was not going to be ideal in such a small jurisdiction.”

Ms McMaster said of her meeting with Mr Elferink: “He didn’t believe me”.

The committal hearing, before Judge John Neill, continues.