The Northern Territory's former chief minister has defended the handling of the Azaria Chamberlain case in the wake of Michael Chamberlain's death.
Mr Chamberlain died aged 72 in Gosford Hospital in NSW on Monday after complications from leukaemia.
Stephen Hatton was the NT chief minister in 1987 when Michael and then wife Lindy Chamberlain were pardoned over their daughter's disappearance.
Lindy Chamberlain (now Chamberlain-Creighton) had spent more than three years in jail convicted of Azaria's murder, while her husband had received a suspended sentence for being an accessory.
Many years later Mr Chamberlain still referred to the "gross injustice" that shaped his life, but Mr Hatton is adamant Northern Territory authorities acted appropriately in all the circumstances.
"The Northern Territory police force and judicial system shouldn't be continually facing this level of ongoing national and international acrimony," he said.
"They need to be defended.
"We need to remember the Northern Territory government, this horrible anti-Chamberlain government, initiated the inquiry that eventually freed them.
"We didn't do it under pressure, we did it because it was a fair thing to do."
He said the government had "acted fairly all the way through".
Tributes flowed for the former pastor, teacher and father of four on Tuesday as Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton travelled to be with her children.
In a statement she appealed for privacy to allow Mr Chamberlain's second wife and children to grieve following the unexpected death.
