When the Goss Labor government came to power in December, 1989, one of its first actions was to close down an inquiry conducted bt Noel Heiner under the Public Service Act into the management and operation of the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre. Amongst the evidence gathered by Heinerincluded details of a pack rape of a 14 year old aborigional girl at the centre. There were also allegations that some of the staff were abusing the kids, drugs and cigarettes were being traded by staff for sex.

Some of the union members involved were members of the powerful AWU, the union faction which backed Wayne Goss. They put pressure on the government to close down the inquiry.

The Centre Manager, Peter Coyne, demanded to see the details of certain allegations made against him and sought the assistance of his union, the QPOA and in particular Kevin Lindeberg. Coyne and the Deputy Manager, Ann Dutney, also engaged a solicitor who wrote a letter to the department demanding to see details of allegations against them. Both had an absolute entitlement to the information under the regulations of the Public Service Act and the rules of natural justice.

The department deceived Coyne’s solicitor as he had been told the records were safe when the Goss Cabinst had already made the decision to shred the evidence.

Kevin Rudd was Wayne Goss’s Chief of Staff at the time and it was his job to oversee everything which went to Cabinet. Rubb was very much “hands on” and a little control freak.

Rudd cannot deny involvement in the shredding.

Section 129 of Qld’s Criminal code was breached in the act of the shredding, Other sections also come into play, Sect 92, Abuse of Office and sections 132 and 140 which relate to conspiracy and perverting the course of justice.

The whole issue has been covered up by the CJC, Qld Police, Crown Law, DPP and other areas. At the CJC in particalar there were two corrupt Labor lawyers involved in a cocked up investigation. During the process of this investigation evidence was tampered with at the CJC (a taped record of interview). Both these individuals have since been promoted to Qld’s judiciary as magistrates.

This is just a brief overview and just the start, The resultant cover-up and perversion of Qld’s entire justice system is even worse.

Qld’s Chief Justice has a responsibility to clean up this mess, as it affects his judiciary but he continues to sit on his compromised little hands. After all he no doubt is aware of Beattie’s disgraceful performance in parliament an references to Tinker Bell and Peter Pan. Thiker Bell was a fairy.

While I have no knowledge of that particular situation or reason to ascribe blame to Mr Rudd personally, the fact is that abuse of power was not at all uncommon under the Goss Government – see comments on Public Service bullying in Queensland.

While those abuses are now fading into history, their legacy remains.
Queensland’s public administration has been dysfunctional and crisis prone largely as a consequences of the politicisation of the Public Service and the creation of amateurish machinery by what must be a strong contender for the title of Queensland’s Worst Government.

While the destruction of the Heiner documents (probably due to incompetence rather than malice) appears to have challenged the integrity of the judicial system and so attracted publicity, it has been unfashionable to express concern about abuses of political power which (probably due to incompetence rather than malice) have merely undermined the integrity of government administration.

But the important point is when did you last hear about one side of politics conspiring to cover up an alleged child abuse scandal that occurred under the other side of politics….it does not make sense. I believe the Goss Government took the wrong decision but for the right reasons – to get on with the massive job of reforming and governing Qld. Qld had already lived through the Fitzgerald Inquiry and I believe the Government probably took the decision in an attempt to move on. Most of the material that came before Heiner revolved around pretty petty industrial issues at the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre.

The real shame in all of this…..Australia faces massive challenges – environmental, economic, and social and yet our political commentators can talk of nothing but dinners with Peter Costello, strip clubs and long dead conspiracies. How about holding the Howard Government to account for its appalling record for the past 11 years and applying some pressure on the ALP on its agenda.

Surely, if we are to keep clinging to the Westminister tradition then all blame ultimately rests with elected officials who actually made the decision?

Why is it that conservatives in this country really don’t seem to give a damn about preserving one of our better democratic traditions, that is that elected officials are accountable for the actions of their non-elected staff? Surely true conservatives must see the benefit in this tradition.

the only person left standing that the electorate can still stomach in public office will be Humphrey B. Bear

I’m not so sure about that. My sources inform me that he was once allegedly seen on national television with NO PANTS ON!

In a kiddies’ show timeslot, no less.

mmm, guess we will need to deal with local Qld gossip/angst in making decisions for our next P.M. So be it……….

The Heiner inquiry was set up by the Cooper government in the dying days of the National party regime – sort of like the administrative rearrangements made in the Third Reich in the early weeks of April 1945. Contrary to popular mythology, retired magistrate Noel Heiner was appointed not to inquire into allegations of child abuse at the (soon thereafter closed) John Oxley Youth Detention Centre, but to inquire into allegations of bullying of some staff by other staff. The appointment of Heiner was invalid because only public servants could be appointed to conduct such inquiries under the public service legislation, and Heiner was a retired magistrate. The documents were destroyed, under advice from the Crown solicitor, because they could have been used to found defamation actions by some individuals against other individuals on account of the improper establishment of the inquiry. The brand new Goss cabinet was faced with a godawful mess – either they could waste public funds by indemnifying individuals for defamation costs, or they could allow individuals to hang out to dry based on supposedly privileged evidence given in good faith. And all this over a facility that Labor had always wanted to close – and soon did. The whole thing would have died quietly were it not for Professional Officers Association official Kevin Lindeberg, who became consumed with the case to the point of irrationality and who could well still be bending the ear of anyone from the media unwise enough to listen. Among the media types seduced have been David Margan and the entire journalism dept at the Uni of Queensland, all of whom have supplied yet more oxygen to the dying embers of this coodabeen scandal. Akerman’s head will join many others on the Heiner trophy wall.

If it’s a conspiracy, it’s one that has enlisted both sides of politics and much of the legal profession, and one that lacks anything resembling motive. As Andrew Bartlett says, it’s been perhaps the most inquired-into subject in living memory. IMHO the most comprehensive examination was the 1997 Morris Howard report, commissioned by the Borbidge coalition government with the object of digging up some dirt to throw at the Labor opposition. They found none.

Gratifying signs of advanced desperation from Team Rodent.

Nabakov:
How can we make a valid vote for Humphrey B Bear?