NEWS > 21 December 2006

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Daily Telegraph - Sydney,New S
21 December 2006

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Breaking down walls

BRICK by brick, the wall erected by the NSW Government to shield aspects of the management of NSW Police from scrutiny is crumbling.

This has come at great cost to the public and little credit to the State Government, which has had its attempts to protect material from disclosure serially overruled by Supreme Court Justice Peter Johnson.

Indeed, if it had not been for determined action taken by the NSW Opposition, with the support of the Greens, in the Legislative Council, critical material relating to inquiries into police management may never have been brought to light.

It is now more than five years since former NSW police officer Tim Priest, who served from 1983 to 2002, brought a suit against the State Government seeking damages for negligence and breach of contract.

He claims he was disciplined around June 1999 for failing to obey a command not to make drug-related arrests; that after making a complaint to the NSW Crime Commission in July 1999 he was harassed and victimised by or at the request of senior officers; that he assisted another police officer to complain to the Police Integrity Commission in November 1999 about a senior officer and was isolated and ridiculed at Cabramatta police station and became the subject of further complaints; and that in February or March 2000 he complained that he was refused overtime to properly investigate a murder at Cabramatta.

Challenged at every turn, the case came to Supreme Court Justice Johnson who considered argument from June 23, 2005, to January 31 this year before ordering the Crown to produce material including files relating to Operation Retz, an investigation into the Endeavour Regional Command.

He also ordered the production of diary entries for the years 1997 to 2001 made by former commissioner Peter Ryan, former deputy commissioner Jeff Jarrett, former assistant commissioner Clive Small, former superintendent Peter Horton and former Inspector Deborah Wallace relating to Priest, drug crime in Cabramatta, Cabramatta local area command and internal affairs. Nothing was produced.

On June 5, the Crown objected to the order claiming that there was "no legitimate forensic purpose" for Retz and other material to be produced.

However, Priest and his lawyers had a lucky break on June 15, when they found by chance and read a copy of a separate investigation, the Tunks report, in material the Crown had agreed they could see.

Prepared by Chief Inspector Jeff Tunks in 2003, it is a review of what is known as the Newling Investigation into Cabramatta from 1991 to 2001.

On November 2, the Crown gave an indication of the problems it faced obtaining the sought-after diaries, with QC John Maconachie telling the court: "We will continue to make enquiries to determine from people who are no longer in the service and some of whom are very antagonistic. Mr Jarrett doesn't come into headquarters for a cup of tea every Thursday. Mr Ryan, I might say, might not be a dancing partner of (current Commissioner) Mr Moroney either. There is a real practical problem to this."

Two days later, on November 4, two lever arch file folders containing about 300 pages from Retz were delivered to his court. All were undated except for a 151-page report dated November 2002, which would have supported the Crown's argument that Retz took place after Priest left the service.

Justice Johnson, on November 28, rejected the privilege claim on Tunks and the call to withdraw Retz from disclosure.

Had not the Upper House moved on November 15 to demand that the Retz files be produced to Parliament, that's where things may have rested.

Within three weeks, Retz material was dumped at Parliament _3000 documents running to some 35,000 pages were delivered in response to an order almost identical to that issued by Justice Johnson.

Given the similarity in the requests the discrepancy between the responses to the Supreme Court and Parliament without further explanation is, in my view, absolutely staggering.

However, Liberal MLC Charlie Lynn, who has made a preliminary study of the dumped files believes more than 20 files � including a crucial report on convicted paedophile Robert "Dolly" Dunn � are missing in breach of the parliamentary order.

In a report to Opposition Leader Peter Debnam, he said the material he had seen provided an insight into the leadership and management practices at the highest levels of the NSW Police Service.

Following the release of the material to Parliament, Justice Johnson has ordered the Crown to hand over all Retz files for examination by January 30, before a further hearing on February 7.

But the genie is out of the bottle, the Retz files are being read by Legislative Councillors who claim the material could damage the State Government irreparably.

Before next year's state election, the public should have the opportunity to read the papers and reach its own conclusion.

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Article sourced from

Daily Telegraph - Sydney,New S21 December 2006

Breaking down walls

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Daily Telegraph - Sydney,New S
21 December 2006