Coroner & Legal
Tasmanian MLC queries police progress on complaint alleging fabrication of fox evidence
A Tasmanian Upper House MP is demanding police action on his complaint alleging the fabrication of evidence of foxes by government employees.
It has been more than six weeks since Windermere MLC Ivan Dean handed a 100-page complaint to Tasmania’s Police Commissioner Darren Hine.
It included documents from former government employees alleging fabrication of evidence of foxes, including fox scats, by their former colleagues.
Tasmania’s now-abolished $50 million fox eradication program found no live foxes but used about 60 fox scats as evidence the pests existed in the state.
Mr Dean said he had not received a response since making the police complaint on February 29.
“The commissioner did say that it would be a priority issue for them, I just thought that from the comment being made this matter would have been determined well and truly by now,” he said.
Commissioner Hine was unavailable for comment.
In a statement, Tasmania Police said the matter was being examined to determine an appropriate course of action.
Integrity Commission will be Dean’s next stop
Mr Dean said he would make an official complaint to Integrity Commission Tasmania if police decided not to investigate.
“They’ve been briefed, the Integrity Commission, they haven’t had a formal complaint made to them at this stage,” he said.
“They would now, I think, know if they did take it on, what it might entail.