GRIFFITH police have played down reports of a fresh lead in the mystery of Donald Mackay's murder.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Griffith Detective Superintendent Michael Rowan accused a newspaper in Victoria of taking his comments about Australia's first political assassination out of context and insisted there were no major developments to speak of.
Detective Superintendent Rowan stressed the Mackay investigation was perpetually ongoing given its importance to Griffith residents.
"This has all been taken out of context, I go back to what I said 12 months ago the advances in forensic science have been exponential over the last 20 years and for that reason you would never rule out making an arrest," he said.
"There is no new development per se, yes we go to Victoria from time to time as part of the ongoing investigation, we go anywhere if there's something to follow up.
"In all crime matters you get phone calls, people speak to you, you might even overhear someone in The Area pub on a Friday night talking about crime and we chase that stuff up.
"The reality is these things unfortunately cause a bit of grief for everybody, so it's a shame this has been blown out of proportion."
Detective Superintendent Rowan confirmed Griffith police were working Victoria's organised crime fighting Purana Taskforce, famed for halting Melbourne's high profile gangland murders.
He also confirmed Griffith police had spoken to Victorian hitman James Bazley, who spent nine years in jail for conspiring to murder Mr Mackay, but he said that was 12 months ago during the Hay search.
Taking advantage of the renewed interest, Detective Superintendent Rowan seized on the one-year anniversary of a tip-off which sparked a fortnight-long search for the body of Donald Mackay on a farm in Hay to call on the anonymous tipster to come forward.
"It would be fantastic for whoever wrote the letter to get in touch with us," he said.
"For that matter, if anyone has any information we would call on them to come forward and remind everyone police take this matter very seriously."