Police Minister Nicole Manison rejected claims this morning that the Gunner Government has directed NT Police media to downplay sexual assaults – following a series of stories by the NT Independent exposing a disturbing pattern of suppression of sex crimes – calling the accusation “absolute nonsense, rubbish”.

Ms Manison appeared on Mix 104.9 where host Katie Woolf asked her about the NT Independent’s stories over the last week that detailed horrific sex crimes not being reported to the public by police and if the government had directed the police media unit to cover up information in the public interest.

“What rubbish!” Ms Manison responded. “That’s completely out of line.”

“I don’t think it is,” Ms Woolf responded. “I’m asking a very simple question. Has there been a directive?”

“I’m telling you very, very straight Katie, this is absolute nonsense, rubbish,” Ms Manison said.

The latest incident of a sex crime not being reported by police involved the recent arrest of a registered sex offender who was found outside a child’s bedroom in the northern suburbs with a “rape kit” and disturbing videos of himself inside her room on numerous occasions.

It follows four other matters that the police have either not told the public about or omitted key information, including the actual nature of the alleged sex crimes.

Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker was earlier asked about the media unit and said he is “certainly backing” his media team because “that’s what I do each and every day”.

He later said that the leaking of information about sex crimes that the police are suppressing – that is very much in the public interest – was akin to “throwing victims under the bus”. But he did not explain how serious sex crimes being reported to the public in a way that protects the victim’s identity is harmful.

The NT Police’s “transparency guidelines” state that information on specific cases, including “timely, significant events of likely public interest” and “serious incidents such as … serious assault” and matters of “public safety” and “significant arrests” should be “considered” for public disclosure.

Mr Chalker said that he would “seek further advice as to why [the media team] made those decisions” not to release information to the public.