The Supreme Court has thrown out a request by Constable Zachary Rolfe to avoid questions about a 2019 police shooting.

Constable Rolfe was found not guilty of murder, manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death after a Supreme Court trial earlier this year, over two years after he fired three shots at 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker, in self-defence, after Mr Walker stabbed him in the shoulder during an attempted arrest in Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs. 

Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage is presiding over a long-running inquest into the death of Mr Walker, which began in early September and is scheduled to recommence in February 2023.

Constable Rolfe and his colleague Sergeant Lee Bauwens launched a complex Supreme Court judicial review of a decision made by Coroner Armitage, arguing police officers should not have to answer questions that could result in disciplinary action within the force.

Justice Judith Kelly, who presided over two-days of legal argument about the statutory construction of the Coroner's Act, has now ruled that their claim could lead to “an absurd result”.

“The one construction I consider to be untenable is the one advocated by the plaintiffs. One cannot discern a legislative intention to partly abrogate the important and fundamental privilege and to leave intact the less important, but related penalty privilege,” Justice Kelly wrote.

“That would be an absurd result.”

Constable Rolfe is currently expected to give evidence when the Kumanjayi Walker inquest resumes in 2023. 

Extensive coverage of the legal matters is accessible here.