On 4 January last I posted an item on The AIMN concerning the forged and falsified documents that were used by Angus Taylor and his office for a political hit on the Sydney City Council and in particular its Lord Mayor Clover Moore, over travelling expenses. You will remember that the minister also passed on the false information to the Daily Telegraph so that they too could pile on.
I concluded that post with the following observation after the investigation had been passed by the NSW Commissioner for Police to the Australia Federal Police as it seemed that the forgery had been perpetrated in the Canberra and thus in the jurisdiction of the AFP :
“The minister responsible for the Australian Federal Police just happens to be good mates with minister Taylor and whilst this should not in any way influence the outcome of this independent enquiry and I wouldn’t suggest that for a moment, I will wager London to a brick that this matter will be buried and that there will be no prosecutions and no resignations and no humble apologies.
Call me a cynic if you will and you may be right. So, I will give it until Easter and if there hasn’t been any movement at the station by then, it will be safe to say that the cover-up has been played out.
I’ll get back to you.”
We didn’t need to wait until Easter !
Today, Thursday 6 February 2020, the AFP confirmed it had finalised its investigations and it had :
“determined it is unlikely further investigation will result in obtaining sufficient evidence to substantiate a Commonwealth offence”.
“The AFP assessment of this matter identified there is no evidence to indicate the minister for energy and emissions reduction was involved in falsifying information,” an AFP spokesman said.
“The low level of harm and the apology made by the [minister] to the Lord Mayor of Sydney, along with the significant level of resources required to investigate were also factored into the decision not to pursue this matter.”
Let’s take the words used by the AFP.
“… it is unlikely further investigation will result in obtaining sufficient evidence to substantiate a Commonwealth offence.”
We have already pointed to the offence, it features in the Commonwealth Criminal Code, it’s staring you in the face :
144.1 Forgery
(1) A person commits an offence if:
(a) the person makes a false document with the intention that the person or another will use it:
(i) to dishonestly induce a third person in the third person’s capacity as a public official to accept it as genuine; and
(ii) if it is so accepted, to dishonestly obtain a gain, dishonestly cause a loss, or dishonestly influence the exercise of a public duty or function; and
(b) the capacity is a capacity as a Commonwealth public official.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
“… there is no evidence to indicate the minister for energy and emissions reduction was involved in falsifying information.”
We know that the minister himself didn’t create the forged document. It was clearly somebody in his office who did the falsifying to induce the minister to use the information for political purposes : see above section 144.1 of the Criminal Code.
“The low level of harm and the apology made by the [minister] to the Lord Mayor of Sydney, along with the significant level of resources required to investigate were also factored into the decision not to pursue this matter.”
Wait a minute, this falsified information was used by the minister as a political hit on the SCC and its mayor : sure, under pressure he later apologised but that’s not the point. There was political harm intended and it was not of a “low level”.
And what do they mean “the significant level of resources required to investigate were also factored into the decision not to pursue this matter.”
The media have done the groundwork, they found out who was allegedly responsible for the forgery. He was a Liberal party operative within the minister’s office who has since been moved on : even Inspector Clouseau could point him out in a crowd.
So that’s it, we all move on. There was no harm done and there are no winners, no losers. Except for the stain on our democracy, except for the damage to the rule of law in this country and if the AFP have been politically compromised what of the doctrine of the separation of powers?
Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more !
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As for wink wink, scandals and corruptions Aesop saw it coming and so nailed it, “We hang petty thieves and promote great ones to high office”, as all trust in democratic institutions are lost, and as sure as night follows day, thanks to a so very very compliant media fraternity the millennium of despots has arrived, own you product outcome media fraternity you miserable failed informed democracy, just own it. And make no mistake media fraternity, the despots will come for you as well, if not today, or tomorrow but come they will.
So the AFP would find it too difficult to obtain evidence they could act upon? Is this the same AFP charged with protecting Australia from cyber crime which could be detrimental to the security of the nation? Now I do feel safer.
North Korea are sending a delegation to Aust to study the methods and operational procedures of our AFP, they reckon their secret police could learn a hell of a lot from our mob.
Goodness me what a surprise – NOT.
I have said it elsewhere but every reference concluded by saying nothing to see here confirms the AFP are just LNP glove puppets.
But then it didn’t involve crucifying some drug mules overseas so not surprising nothing to investigate
Perhaps Clover Moore could instigate a private action and maybe there is a keen young lawyer prepared to take it on pro-bono, after all on the reading of the Act it seems clear an offence has been committed.
As we all know it was done because Taylor’s wife is running to be Mayor of SCC. He was trying to discredit Moore to assist his wife to be elected.
We also know the NSW Police actually went through the digital data of the SCC which validated their claim about the website not being changed. We now also know the AFP did not even bother going through the digital data of Taylor and his office to validate his claims.
That alone leads us to nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no Moore.
These conservative c–s are in control of enough stopping and starting of law, regulation, enforcement, interpretation, to bash, bully, coerce, intimidate their way through and clear. Did Al Capone ever do anything Wrong?? Just ask Al…(a bit late for that) but, Trump the c–t of a stunt and lying runt has NEVER done anything wrong. (he’s never done anything right …) Conservatives are never wrong and they’ll buy their way out of anything to suggest otherwise. The Head Moron is so saved, blessed, chosen and anointed, he is above any area of right or wrong.., it is all some divine act, to be judged later perhaps…hopefully by qualified ad experienced and honest judges…
To repeat: Australia does not have a federal government, it has a federal scam
Uhm ….. There was no need to change jurisdictions to press charges on an event that occurred in NSW. Forgery is also covered by the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).
CRIMES ACT 1900 – SECT 253
Forgery–making false document
253 Forgery–making false document
A person who makes a false document with the intention that the person or another will use it–
(a) to induce some person to accept it as genuine, and
(b) because of its being accepted as genuine–
(i) to obtain any property belonging to another, or
(ii) to obtain any financial advantage or cause any financial disadvantage, or
(iii) to influence the exercise of a public duty,
is guilty of the offence of forgery.
A wink only shuts one eye but, at the lnp signal, the AFP does a double wink ie shuts both eyes and rolls over.
Besides the police are too busy searching for the boat and plane virus and staking out penny’s office for signs of coughing.
It’s what some us tried to say on today’s Drum, to deafening silence, Terence.
While the PM’s Office seems to have msm over a barrel, it is hard to get attention as to even the most blatant of criminalities.
TuffGuy re:
Read that too. But didn’t believe it. Maybe she’s going to do the job remotely via the NBN – from somewhere south of Goulburn? I’d like to see that. But then again, anything’s possible.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/liberal-mp-angus-taylors-offmarket-sale-of-his-woollahra-mansion-to-bond-jnr-20161116-gsr80n/
The new AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw seems somewhat accommodating. Don’t think he jumped his first public (political) hurdle with flying colours. But time will tell.
Corruption is spelt AFP.
AFP is fully owned by the Liberals.
What a farce.
New England Cocky
The NSW Police were able to ascertain that the forgery occurred in the ACT – probably in the minister’s office : they passed it to Inspector Clouseau at the AFP to follow through as that is the appropriate jurisdiction.
After an in depth enquiry, which evidently didn’t include interviewing anybody in Taylor’s office, the AFP were unable to identify any evidence or deduce any wrong doing.
It is not clear if they actually went through anybody’s undies drawer on this occasion, which as you are aware is investigations 101 in the AFP manual.
Interestingly this falsified information was fed to The Daily Telegraph in Sydney who published it without checking its veracity : News Corporation maintain that it strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough and that they act ethically and at all times with integrity and in the interests of the Liberal party.
Apparently, the AFP team knows who, from Angus’ office, passed the forgery to the media. They then went into a huddle for 24 hours debating their next move. They decided to ask, “Who gave the forgery to you?”.
THAT’S when the money ran out.
Apparently.
The political system, the bureaucracy and the law enforcement establishment are totally and irredeemably corrupt, aided and protected by the the Murdoch media and the rest of the bastards of the MSM. That’s why they all seem to be smirking and guffawing, backslapping amid raucus laughter, They know they’ve got the mugs who vote for them, in the palms of their greasy shit stained hands, and the mugs don’t even have a clue. The mugs got their miniscule tax cuts, franking credits, investment property tax write offs and they couldn’t give a shit about anything else. I hope they all rot in hell.
As bad or worse, than the Republicans cheering for that orange topped cretin in America. There is one common thread in all this, and that’s the crinkled scrote Murdoch.
When someone in Michaelia cash’s office admitted to calling the media about the unjustified raid on union headquarters, the police didn’t have enough evidence.
When someone in Dutton’s office leaked classified info to the press, only 11 people had seen that copy and only one of them had contacted the Murdoch hack, but there was not enough evidence.
Yet when someone leaked about the au pair saga, police went into high gear to track them down.
Likewise the two raids on journos.
And the raid on Stephen Conroy and a staffer when they reported the truth about the NBN.
But hey, they SAY they aren’t political.
Fantastic. Great move. Well done Anus.
I just saw dutton with some labor drip and karl baby was trying to go for the droob but the drip had no ammo to excite and exploit. If he had your quote, waltz, karl would have seen the controversy and gone for ratings but as usual labor fcked up another opportunity by being unprepared.
Time for albo to get going or get RSI (repetitive silence injury) and resign.
Every day there is further evidence of a need for a Federal Anti-Corruption Body.Standards are now so low we are starting to look like South America.
Just about anyone with a mind is gobsmacked at the implications.
Here is Katharine Murphy at the Grauniad:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/06/afps-failure-to-investigate-angus-taylor-has-corrosive-consequences-for-our-democracy
The VERY FIRST ACT of the next ALP federal government should be to disband the AFP and start again. The AFP is a willing tool of the Right and is a readymade praetorian guard. It is unashamedly pro-Coalition and an eager traducer of what this country believes itself to be.
Wam, that seems to have been a problem with Labor for some time. We have and have had, leaders & shadow ministers with either speech defects or a boring, passionless, slow delivery as if they’re reading from an invisible auto-cue. They appear to have lost wit, intelligent sarcasm or the ability to lampoon; obvious lies or illogical statements go unchallenged.
Speech defects can be corrected but boring can’t – once one’s eyes glaze over the message is lost.
Most of them couldn’t perform Mark Antony’s oration without sending the audience asleep before the get to the punch line: “…but they are honorable men.”
@Geoff Andrews
Yesterday my workmates and I were discussing the state of Australian politics, and one pointed out that we were forced to vote for the least unacceptable PARTY rather than an actual candidate. I said that I was a committed Labor voter, but would nevertheless prefer to cast my vote for a Tony Windsor-like Independent if offered the choice.
In the last SA state poll the ALP dis-endorsed a long-standing but un-aligned MP, and supplanted her with a favoured right faction candidate. The dis-endorsed member stood and won the seat as an Independent.
She was and is a highly-regarded and extremely hardworking member of parliament. So much so, that when casting my vote I chatted to a Labor Party member who told me he had spent that morning handing out ‘how to vote cards’ for her even through she was standing against the party of which he was a member.
The US farce shows the toxicity of party politics. That a creature like the tangerine twat can not only be nominated but be fully supported by the Republican Party is evidence of that. And Morrison/Johnson are further evidence.
Trump, of course, appealed to the sizeable section of the community who wanted him to ‘drain the swamp’, but now ignore the bleeding obvious dredging and deepening that he has overseen.
Jack Cade,
I traveled down from Queensland in 2016 to hand out how-to-vote cards for Tony Windsor. I think the best composition of the HOR or the Senate is about 20% genuine Independents from across the political spectrum. I’ve always sneered at the concept of a party leader “allowing” a conscience vote.
What !? Does that mean that there are members who regularly vote against their conscience?
The concept of a government having to resign if it loses the “confidence” of the House is also counter-productive. Get rid of this restriction and we could then have secret ballots in parliament, which would then, effectively, be a parliament of Independents.
I think compulsory voting is a bad thing. Why force a person who is uninterested, disinterested or ignorant of the way the country is run, to vote. That’s not the will of the people; it’s against the will of a minority.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you how to ensure that the parliament consists of 50% men and 50% women – all elected on merit.
Geoff Andrews
I disagree with you about compulsory voting. I am in favour of it, but would be happy to scrap it if we replaced it with proportional representation.
The US ‘electoral college’ system seems to me the worst of all possible ‘democratic’ systems, followed by the British ‘first past the post’.
Geoff Andrews and Jack Cade…….Your vision and ideas are very cogent in today’s political atmosphere. The party system is or was supposed to be, a vehicle to bring together and organize, like minded people, to mobilize public opinion which supports their point of view. But what has happened is that the party itself has been influenced, distorted manipulated and where loyalty to personality is valued more that the goal of the better good of all. Yes there many instances where qualified sincere independents would be preferred over the party nominee, but they would lack weight and effectiveness. Maybe the party can incorporate an independent and afford them some measure of value and power.
I think the hung parliament was, even if by default, a brilliant parliament. With ethical and moral independents we nearly hit the bullseye. Sadly, the intransigence of the Greens spoiled the Rudd/Gillard years. They were like a man staggering out of the desert and refusing water because it had no ice in it.
And might I say that Clive Palmers millions didn’t re-elect the current toss bags; Bob Brown’s caravan did it. 23 seats in Qld and the hypocritical bible-bashers got a one-seat majority…
And how stupid was Sussex Street to put the boot into Emma Husar last year, weeks out from an election.
As for a hung parliament, some people might call out, “pass me the rope”.
Anyway, we will find out just how myopic Labor is over the next few months when a stubborn and oafish government persists with the worst of its so called legislative program.
State of play:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/07/thanks-to-the-government-we-have-a-third-croquemboules-pool-this-really-is-the-lucky-country-club#comment-138040284
Jack Cade, your evidence-free tirade against the Greens is on par with “…the hypocrtical bible-bashers…”
If you really feel that an ill timed bunch of protesters of a shade of green actually influenced anyone other than the reactionary clowns who know-it-all and can never be influenced by reason, then you must accept that incessant, highly visible Labor-bashing in bright yellow must have had an even greater effect on those knuckleheads.
Your indoctrination is total.
PS “Greenies” are not interested in your opinion beyond the negative effect that it might have on people’s respect for the environment upon which we depend for our very existence.
DrakeN
My evidence is from long- term Labor voting friends in FNQ. They felt the chill before the polls opened.
Interestingly enough, your closing sentence encapsulates the reason why the Greens vote seldom increases. They have never learned that you get what you want by increments. Green ‘purity’ got us Tony Abbott, and cemented Morrison.
Jack Cade,
According to the AEC, L&NP gained two Labor seats in Queensland; two Labor seats in Tasmania; and one Labor seat in NSW & Victoria. Labor picked up two L&NP seats in Victoria and one in NSW. Faced with this overwhelming evidence, the post election analysis by Labor’s brains trust (sic) would have, quite naturally, sheeted the blame for losing the un-loseable election right where it belongs: those 1.4 million pesky, inner city, latte drinking intellectuals, 90% of whom would have preferenced Labor. But don’t thank them; expect it.
As DrakeN suggests Palmer would have had no effect; the brilliant campaign was there for all to see; the dynamic demolition of the L&NP’s feeble attempts to destroy the franking credits debate should have consolidated the win but no, those bloody Greens. Thank goodness Albo went up to Longman & Herbert recently to reassure them that if Adani does finally start up there’ll be jobs for all servicing the 257 visa holders. It’s good to see a party stick to its basic philosophy & principles.
And what hope proving something right or wrong when this comes into play?
We’ve seen the AFP rollover for for Taylor and the republicans roll over for Trump.
What happens if you report a serious crime in our times?
Pinched from a longer Alison Broinowsky posting at IA:
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/oct/02/judge-handling-witness-k-case-risks-10-years-jail-if-he-breaches-secrecy-provisions