Police? Political? Nevah!
If the police want the public to believe that they are not a political tool, they should stop acting like one.
In 2012, the OECD Anti-bribery taskforce politely pointed out that the AFP were basically doing fuck-all about some very serious allegations of foreign bribery.
“Out of 28 foreign bribery referrals that have been received by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), 21 have been concluded without charges. The Working Group thus recommends that the AFP take sufficient steps to ensure that foreign bribery allegations are not prematurely closed, and be more proactive in gathering information from diverse sources at the pre-investigative stage.” (See Annex 4 for specifics)
Among many areas identified for improvement, the working group stressed that “Protection of whistleblowers in the public and private sectors need to be strengthened.”
But hey, the AFP were very busy in 2012 investigating allegations by whistleblower James Ashby about Peter Slipper’s misuse of cab charges. Despite Slipper being exonerated of the heinous charge of using $900 to visit a winery – which he offered to repay but wasn’t allowed because the AFP were already ‘investigating’ – his career and personal life were destroyed.
Investigations by the AFP into the illegal copying and distribution of Mr Slipper’s diary to the media were dropped.
See – they do protect whistleblowers.
Then we have the AFP raids on the media to see how they found out about alleged war crimes by Australian troops in Afghanistan and about a proposal to widen surveillance laws on Australian citizens.
But the investigation into who leaked classified national security advice about border protection during the medevac legislation debate was dropped “due to the limited prospects of identifying a suspect”.
This pattern was also followed during the investigation into who tipped off the media that the AFP were raiding AWU headquarters about a ten-year-old donation with links to Bill Shorten.
Despite Michaelia Cash’s media adviser admitting that he told journalists before the raid, no charges were pursued.
“The AFP can confirm the CDPP has advised they will not be proceeding with a prosecution as there are no reasonable prospects of conviction. The AFP considers this investigation finalised.”
Even though it was Cash who referred the allegations of possible misconduct to the Registered Organisations Commission, who then conducted what a judge has ruled was an “invalid” investigation because the rules state that if after four years an alleged contravention of union rules had not been acted upon, it was “deemed to have been in compliance” with the rules, and even though it was her office that tipped off the media – the union’s claim that the raid was politically motivated was dismissed.
In October last year, AFP officers raided the Department of Home Affairs in Canberra as part of an investigation into “destabilising leaks against Peter Dutton over his ministerial interventions to save a number of foreign au pairs from deportation.” Seriously, is this a productive use of their time?
We saw how the NSW police handled Craig Thomson.
It will be interesting to see how they now deal with the apparently forged document quoted by Angus Taylor to attack Clover Moore.
What would be even more interesting is if they actually punished people committing real crimes like in the Securency/One Note foreign bribery case where a few fall guys got a suspended sentence. I’m still not sure if I am even allowed to talk about that.
Police forces often complain about a lack of resources. I think employing someone who can prioritise what’s important would be a really good start.
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Return to home pageOne would think Australia was corrupt re. AWB, Timor Leste etc., heaven forbid.
Liked this expression: ‘whistleblower James Ashby’, still trying to work out that guy, but like others in the same field, I suppose they are dependent on politics for career, employment and income.
James Ashby is a parasitic non-entity
Re:
Looks like Angus Taylor is a serious, ‘over the top’. serial offender and at any number of levels. Presumably, some ALP operative already has a ‘dirt file’ inches thick. Because of his arrogance, overreach is an absolute certainty.
Then again who said this:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/04/anthony-albanese-says-he-has-seen-no-evidence-of-corruption-in-federal-politics
Sometimes it’s better to keep your head down.
Nevertheless, Taylor’s scalp would be a great trophy – even if done slowly.
James Ashby is an agent provocateur. Kinda like Mark Latham. They are like pendulous wrecking balls made of leeches and bullshit, swinging across the political landscape aiming to dismantle all that is built around them.
“I think employing someone who can prioritise what’s important would be a really good start.”
Kaye, do you really think that this has not happened already?
“Ministers are expected to be honest in the conduct of public office and take all reasonable steps to ensure that they do not mislead the public or the Parliament”.
If an error does occur it must be “corrected or clarified, as soon as practicable”.
Over to you Angus…..
I remember Mick Keelty doing the little rodents bidding, it goes way back Kay. I’m not gunna get my hopes up re Angus Faylor, they say even the majority of the fascists in “government” think he’s an arrogant prick. The whole of the country’s agencies are now corrupted by these criminals in Canberra, Anthony, get out of the way mate!!!! We need help and apparently you can’t assist.
Shane Dowling has an interesting take on why the government is sending such a dire warning to whistleblowers after a story by Karen Middleton in The Saturday Paper about why Scott Morrison was sacked from Tourism Australia….
“.. late last year, The Saturday Paper uncovered an auditor-general’s report from 2008 examining the handling of three major contracts, which had delivered a scathing assessment of Tourism Australia’s management.
The report provided the first indication as to the real reason Morrison was removed.
The contracts were worth $184 million, and the auditor focused most on the two biggest – those with companies M&C Saatchi for global creative services or advertising campaigns, and Carat for media placement.
The audit report revealed that information had been kept from the board, procurement guidelines breached and private companies engaged before paperwork was signed and without appropriate value-for-money assessments.
Both before and since becoming prime minister in August last year, Scott Morrison has refused to answer questions about why the tourism minister took the unusual step in July 2006 of sacking him as head of the agency. He has also refused to answer questions about the handling of the contracts, which were signed the previous year.”
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2019/06/08/fresh-documents-morrisons-sacking/15599160008252
“It’s starting to become more obvious by the day why Scott Morrison is so keen to crack down on whistleblowers because there are probably a few dozen people in government who know the real reasons for Morrison’s sacking and if they have access to the documents they could bring him down. Morrison has known he is in trouble for 6 months since Karen Middleton started her FOI requests for documents from government departments. That would be an added reason why the Morrison government have gone so hard after whistleblowers in the last few months.”
I note one headline claiming the Angus Taylor affair had ” weakened” the. Public faith in politicians and journalists. Since when did sensible people, capable of thinking for themselves, have any faith in either politicians or the likes of News Corp? But I guess the reelection of the Morribund government would indicate such people are in a minority anyway.
I do apologise Kaye, it was early and I’d just logged on with that usual feeling of apprehension wondering what had the scum done overnight. I know it can be insulting to spell someone’s name incorrectly and I will be more vigilant in future.
The brief of Australian police forces should be, to be expert at finding lost dogs, helping old ladies across the road and from time to time, rescue Mrs Jones cat Tiddles who often gets stuck in her neighbors tree, down on to the ground safely. Anything else should be contracted out to government agencies who have some grasp of solving crime and controlling other ills that plague society. To quote my eldest brother who was in the SAS Regiment for fifteen years, most of them couldn’t track an elephant in the snow. Now what was that about corruption?
Phil: which are these other government agencies “who have some grasp…”?
I think the point of the article is simply to reinforce what most people suspect: Police forces of various stripes may or may not have a grasp of how to do things, but by Jove they know when to do it and when not!
No offence, but I would guess that people in the SAS have little or no idea of policing. That is why the ADF and associated entities are not called upon to deal with the civilian population, and it is all for the better. It is the same in most “civilised” countries.
No offence, but I would guess that people in the SAS have little or no idea of policing.
Um you think so. 1. They have used the SAS in bikie raids in Australia on more than one occasion. 2. When my brother joined the police force he only did and abridged course. This consisted of knowing how to fill in a brief to enact a prosecution and other procedural matters. He went straight out with detectives to catch the baddies. . Not many x police pass to get in the SAS but that is not the same in reverse. Their entrance criteria for the SAS far exceeds the entrance requirement of the police force both physically and mentally. Btw I am an x digger and law enforcement officer. The police force of late has lost the plot. Deaths in custody, nothing new of course, but no decrease. the strip searching of young females, excessive force used on demonstrator’s that are in their dotage. Strip searches should be carried out by trained medical staff, not coppers. IMHO.
There are many Private Investigators working for the government in various government departments these are not all x coppers, some are x military. Police training involves facets that are common dog.
I may have been a little flippant but to deny the police forces in this country are not political is absolute crap. They have been put in the service of governments enforcing not only their laws but policies since the peelers. As for corruption that could fill a whole day up debating it.
The federal integrity commissioner has disclosed the “highest ever” number of ongoing corruption issues being investigated, with the workload growing by 20 per cent to have 278 investigations under way at the end of June.
The peak agency has also named online gambling as a factor in the corruption of law enforcement officers, saying it makes it more difficult to detect problems compared to public gambling.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/corruption-investigations-on-the-rise-as-morrison-fends-off-press-freedom-calls-20191022-p5335x.html
“The last 24 hours has seen outrageous accusations made against me by the Labor Party,” the Minister said in a statement.
“I reject absolutely the suggestion that I, or any members of my staff, altered the document in question; however, I will be writing to the Lord Mayor to offer my apologies for not clarifying those numbers with the City of Sydney before writing to her.
“There is clear evidence on the City of Sydney’s own website, that there are different versions of the same report online right now.”
Mr Taylor said Labor had a track record of “using police referrals as a political tool”.
“The Labor Party has, in typical fashion, dramatically overreached by claiming the documents were forged or altered. There is absolutely no basis for these assertions,” he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-25/angus-taylor-to-apologise-to-sydney-lord-mayor-clover-moore/11641580
Angus is digging his hole even deeper.
The two versions, a PDF and a Word Doc are of the same annual report. I checked them both, they say the same thing.
I wonder about the upbringing of these politicians who seem to find it impossible to say sorry I made a mistake.
We all know that he has proven his honesty in relation to the destruction of native vegetation. Why should this be any more or less believable?
Not to mention his facebook gaffe where he congratulated himself about commuter carparks. “Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus”.
Or more importantly, the $80m water deal between the federal government and Eastern Australia Agriculture – he was one of the founding directors of the company.
Taylor represents the worst of self-serving unaccountable arrogant born to rule politicians in it for their own benefit.
AFP clearly has become a political tool for its masters, the remainder of our public service has been conveniently dismissed to private enterprise. So what does that leave us with… our beleaguered judiciary, hmm and you’d have to be in the clouds if you thought the common man or woman could obtain justice, freedom and a fair hearing here.
How could Taylor possibly be corrupt……. he was a Rhodes Scholar!
Re Angus Taylor and:
While one may quibble about the tense (whether he is or was), it raises the issue as to how Rhodes Scholars come into being. As an aside of sorts, I remember a prominent footballer being asked by a curious aspirant. What makes an Australian representative? The answer came quickly – Three selectors son. Just three selectors. And so it is with Rhodes Scholars. They are selected!
Twenty years ago (not sure how it works these days), the process, at a State level, was on a rotational, ‘religious’ basis, with Bishops (or their representatives) taking it in turns to anoint perhaps one candidate on an annual basis whom they saw as future pillars of their respective churches. Dividing the spoils as it were. (How do you think Abbott scored one? Via academic merit? Via physical prowess? Give me a break. Truth is he failed both the academic and sporting criteria that are reputed to be applied. And that failure persists for all to witness.)
Won’t go on but, there was Premier who had two offspring also anointed … Yep, having the selectors onside helps (more than) a lot.
Just remember Angus Taylor was selected by a panel. And his connections most definitely had a word in an ear or two of that panel.
Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar………. ‘nough said
It has been revealed that Scott Morrison personally intervened to prevent Craig Kelly from appearing on the ABC’s Q&A program on September 16. A few days before the show it was announced that he would be replaced by Liberal senator James Paterson.
I can understand that Kelly would have been an embarrassment to the prime minister and that it is best that Craig be kept in a cellar at Sky-after-Dark and, like a performing chimp be brought out occasionally to perform somersaults and mimic human beings – but James Paterson ?