NT Police refuses to say why officers didn’t interview Children’s Commissioner Colleen Gwynne before charging her

NT POLICE have refused to say why Children’s Commissioner Colleen Gwynne was not afforded an interview before cops decided to charge her with abuse of office.

NT Children's Commissioner Colleen Gwynne. Picture: Justin Kennedy

• NT Children’s Commissioner Colleen Gwynne breaks silence after abuse of office charge
• NT’s Children’s Commissioner Colleen Gwynne charged with alleged ‘abuse of office’ by NT Police

NT POLICE have refused to say why Children’s Commissioner Colleen Gwynne was not afforded an interview before cops decided to charge her with abuse of office.

It comes as Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he did not know Ms Gwynne was being investigated over allegations of abuse of office before the government reappointed her in the role for a further five years in May.

The high-profile Children’s Commissioner was last week charged with abuse of office after an investigation led by NT Police’s Special References Unit on a tip-off dating back to late-2018.

Ms Gwynne has since slammed the charge as “misconceived” and said she had not been offered an interview with police and was not aware of the specifics of the charge against her. She said she would be pleading not guilty.

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NT Police refused to comment when asked why they did not afford Ms Gwynne an interview, and if this was normal process.

Mr Gunner also declined to comment on whether or not he thought it was fair she had not been offered an interview, saying that was a “process issue”.

Mr Gunner said an independent panel had deemed Ms Gwynne the best applicant for the Children’s Commissioner role when her contract was up for renewal, and the government had accepted the recommendation.

He said he was not aware she was being investigated by police when they took the recommendation.

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Ms Gwynne will be represented by Phillip Boulten SC, instructed by Bowden McCormack Lawyers, when she faces court on August 27.