The NSW police minister says she won't step down and "absolutely" did not know police had watered down a public statement about the tasering of a 95-year-old grandmother.
Minister Yasmin Catley and NSW Police have been under fire this week after documents obtained by AAP revealed how police kept several key details from the public about the tasering of nursing home resident Clare Nowland in May.
"I will not be standing down as minister," Ms Catley told reporters on Friday.
"My job as the police minister is to make sure that the police is resourced properly and that I advocate for them to do their job.
"And that's what I'll do."
The documents obtained under freedom of information laws show that before publishing a brief statement about an officer tasering Mrs Nowland, police removed 100 words.
That included mention of the taser, paramedics and Mrs Nowland's walking frame, resulting in a 71-word statement that concluded "no further details" were available.
Ms Catley revealed she was briefed about the tasering within eight hours of it occurring.
But she said she was "absolutely not" told that day that police had removed the word taser during the drafting of the first press release, issued later in the afternoon.
Media reports emerged late the next day but the first police statement mentioning a taser was not published until the morning of the third day - May 19.
The minister said Police Commissioner Karen Webb had been "very clear from the outset" about why key details were kept from the public until May 19 - that Mrs Nowland's large family needed to be notified.
Asked if the 54-hour delay was reasonable, Premier Chris Minns said it was a matter for Ms Webb.
"The police commissioner and NSW Police had a desire for them to find out from official sources as to the reasons and circumstances relating to their grandmother and mother's (eventual) death," he said on Friday.
"Under those circumstances, I thought it was reasonable that those decisions were made.
"What it doesn't mean is there was a cover-up in relation to the investigation. That's not true, nor borne out by the facts."
A critical incident investigation resulted in charges being laid against the officer who fired the taser at Mrs Nowland. An independent inquiry has also been launched.
Ms Webb this week reiterated police had not involved themselves in a cover-up and their priority was informing the family directly.
When the first press release was issued 12 hours after Mrs Nowland was tasered, no witness statements had been taken as investigating police were still travelling from Sydney, the commissioner told Sydney radio 2GB.
"Any media release or holding statement with too much detail could taint witnesses' accounts," she said.
"There is certainly no cover-up."
