Kumanjayi Walker inquest: Rolfe accused of ‘campaign’ against Northern Territory police and coroner’s court

Zachary Rolfe faces disciplinary action by NT Police after its legal counsel suggested he tried to intimidate senior officers.

Zachary Rolfe flew out of Australia last week. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Zachary Rolfe faces disciplinary action by the Northern Territory Police Force after its legal counsel launched an attack in Monday’s coronial hearing, suggest­ing the constable tried to intimidate senior police officers and potentially “pervert the course of justice”.

NT Police barrister Ian Freckelton

On Monday, Ian Freckelton KC said senior police who were due to front the inquest would not be silenced or intimidated by Constable Rolfe’s claims, warning that NT police had served a notice to the 31-year-old’s lawyer indicating “further action” would follow his open letter criticising police and the coronial process.

Dr Freckelton, who is acting for the NT Police Force, said “depending on what response is received” from Constable Rolfe, the force was prepared to act “swiftly” against him, prompting speculation about his future in the organisation.

His remarks were followed by an apology by Deputy Commissioner Murray Smalpage, who said the NT police had failed to treat Kumanjayi Walker’s family with the respect they deserved in the aftermath of his death in Nov­ember 2019.

Constable Rolfe, who flew out of Australia last week, wrote a 2500-word letter accusing the NT police, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage and her counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, of trying to publicly vilify him during the coronial inquest into Walker’s death.

Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker

The former soldier, who was found not guilty of murdering the Indigenous teenager in March 2022, also accused NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker of refusing to meet him and called for his resignation.

Barrister Andrew Boe, acting for members of the Walker family, told the court on Monday that Constable Rolfe’s open letter contained “very false alle­gations about Kumanjayi” that were “deplorable and hurtful to the family” and should be publicly refuted during the course of the inquest.

In opening submissions, Mr Boe referred to Constable Rolfe’s letter and an opinion piece by The Daily Telegraph’s Vikki Campion, as well as an interview between Campion and Sky News host Peta Credlin, which he said should be investigated as contempt of court.

Mr Boe also referred to a comment on the “I support Zach Rolfe” Facebook page, which he attributed to Constable Rolfe’s mother, Deborah Rolfe. “We understand … that Ms Rolfe is a practising lawyer in the ACT. Consideration should be given by your honour or counsel assisting … to make a complaint about her conduct in being associated with these publications to the ACT Law Society,” he said.

Kumanjayi Walker

Dr Freckelton, who warned that Constable Rolfe had a week to respond to the notice served by NT police, said the police officer was persisting in a campaign to destabilise the force and “imputes a variety of slurs against the executive, including that they are ‘narcissists’, ‘liars’, ‘cowards’ and similar”.

“He describes one senior member of the NT Police Force as a clown who has taken over a castle. We don’t know whether the motive of Mr Rolfe is to try to intimidate the two members of the executive who are going to be giving evidence before you this week,” he said.

“The NT Police Force is extremely concerned about the conduct of Mr Rolfe and it has taken action already … Depending on what response is received, further action is going to take place, if appropriate, swiftly.”

Dr Freckelton also criticised an article published by The Australian on February 24 that reproduced parts of Mr Rolfe’s letter, saying it imputed “particular behaviours to Kumanjayi Walker for which there is no evidence whatsoever”.

The hearing was adjourned in the afternoon following a fault with livestream technology.