Former NT Police officer and Labor MLA Mark Turner says he is referring the police’s handling of the Zach Rolfe criminal investigation to federal authorities following the NT Independent’s special investigation that revealed a previously redacted internal police report that he said shows “manipulation of evidence, failure to disclose relevant material and the appearance of a perversion of justice”.

The NT Independent last week revealed previously redacted sections of the damning Pollock/Proctor coronial report into the charging of Constable Rolfe with the murder of Kumanjayi Walker – that Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker had at one stage attempted to hide from the defence team – which showed police investigators disregarded advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions about which use-of-force witnesses to use while building their murder case.

The unredacted report also showed that Mr Chalker’s office directly influenced a “critical decision” to use a later compromised use-of-force expert against legal advice, adding further evidence of Mr Chalker’s involvement despite his repeated claims he was not involved in the murder investigation.

The report ultimately showed that in the rush to charge Constable Rolfe with murder, police had used unqualified use-of-force “experts” to build their murder case with an apparent lack of evidence, while not seeking a proper independent expert, including manipulating the outcome of an international expert’s findings. Both “experts” were also not provided all of the forensic evidence before filing their report.

Mr Turner said in a media release late on Monday that the revelations from the unredacted report “gives rise to yet more questions than answers”.

“The role of investigators is to provide all information to the courts, both for and against, not to massage a case to suit a narrative,” he said.

“This further release of information only deepens the murkiness of the investigation and leaves the stench of corruption on our highest appointments.”

Mr Turner pointed to a recently struck public judicial inquiry in the ACT into allegations the police there attempted to influence the DPP over charges related to the highly-publicised Brittany Higgins case as an example of the need to restore “faith in our judicial systems”.

“Even if I’m wrong, which the paper trail, deleted audio recordings, and emails requesting expert reports be manipulated don’t tend to suggest, there remains widespread public distrust of senior police officers sending junior police officers to a high-risk situation woefully under-equipped and a prosecution process that remains covered by the stench of corruption, manipulation of evidence, failure to disclose relevant material and the appearance of a perversion of justice,” he said.

“Everyone involved, and those that care for them both deserve transparency and integrity in government, police and the courts. So do Territorians.”

Mr Turner said he had referred the matter to the NT’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption and would be writing to federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “drawing their attention to the events in the Northern Territory which are sadly, in no way isolated from our broader issues more widely reported in the national media”.

Independent MLA Robyn Lambley supported Mr Turner’s referrals and said Territorians needed to have confidence in their justice system, adding that Mr Chalker’s actions were “pitiful”.

“It beggars believe why the NT Police Commissioner would go to such lengths to nail Constable Zachary Rolfe,” she said.

“Hiding reports, redacting information, manipulating and controlling expert evidence, ignoring legal advice and wasting significant public money. Is this how our NT Police service functions at the highest level? This is a scathing indictment of Mr Chalker’s pitiful legacy as the NT Police Commissioner.”

The NT Police Association declined to comment on the recent revelations, citing the ongoing coronial inquest.

Current Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb refused to comment about the revelations and what, if any, action he was taking to restore the public’s confidence in his office.

Then-deputy DPP Matthew Nathan, who provided the advice to investigators about use-of-force experts, also declined to comment or explain why the DPP used an unqualified use-of-force expert at the murder trial that he had specifically advised against. He resigned in June 2021, just weeks before the murder trial was originally scheduled to begin.

Counsel Assisting the Coroner Peggy Dwyer also refused to comment, despite relying on the same NT Police use-of-force “expert” who had originally been rejected by the DPP and discredited at the trial to provide Coroner Elisabeth Armitage with evidence during the inquest about Constable Rolfe’s use of force the night he fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker.

ICAC Michael Riches stated in March 2022 that he had launched an investigation into the decision to charge Constable Rolfe with murder, amid allegations of political interference, but it is unclear if that inquiry will explore actions that occurred after the laying of the charge.