Tasmania's deputy premier says it would not have been appropriate for him to initiate additional investigations into an alleged pedophile police officer who received a lavish funeral.
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Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds was under investigation by police for allegations of child sexual abuse when he died by suicide in September 2018.
He was granted a police funeral on September 19, 2018.
Right to information documents obtained by the Greens show a briefing note from then-police commissioner Darren Hine, dated September 17, 2018, was given to the office of then-police minister and current Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson.
It was signed by Mr Ferguson on October 8, 2018.
The note said a search of Snr Sgt Reynolds' house had been conducted after concerns about his relationship with boys and potential sharing of intimate photos.
Mr Ferguson reiterated his position to reporters on Wednesday, saying the note was received by his office on September 18, 2018, but he couldn't say exactly when he read it.
He said it was his "usual process" to sign notes directly after he read them.
Mr Ferguson said he was "satisfied" at the time with two investigations, one by the coroner and another by police professional standards, which were under way into Snr Sgt Reynolds.
"It would be thoroughly inappropriate for a police minister to interfere with an investigation because that can change the quality of evidence gathered," he said.
"It wouldn't have been right ... for a police minister to undermine those investigations."
Tasmania's Police Commissioner Donna Adams has previously apologised for the funeral and in October announced an independent review into how the force handled allegations against Snr Sgt Reynolds.
An interim review report released in January found he groomed and sexually abused teenage boys between 1988 and 2018.
"I make the point as gently as I can, standing here in 2024 we're talking about events of five-and-a-half years ago," Mr Ferguson said.
"Today we have the benefit of hindsight. At that point in time, at least so far as the minister is concerned, they were potential allegations.
"They were real allegations that hadn't been proven. When those facts became established it was very clear that the police funeral was a mistake."
Mr Ferguson has been backed by Premier Jeremy Rockliff, who is aiming to return the Liberals to a fourth consecutive term at Saturday's election.
Mr Ferguson accused the Greens of saving up the information until the tail end of an election campaign.
"I feel for victim-survivors more than anyone here and surely (this) should be above politics," he said.
Labor leader Rebecca White said she couldn't understand how no one in Mr Ferguson's office urgently alerted him to the briefing note.
"There are so many inconsistencies in this story," she told reporters.
"The first thing you should do is undertake an independent investigation, not leave it to somebody else and hope they follow it up."
Australian Associated Press
