by CAA | Oct 27, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
27th October 2021
The latest Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) Special Report of Operation Turon into the activities of former Assistant Police Commissioner Brett Guerin is an extraordinary paradox.
Operation Turon lives up to its name, ‘Sliced bananas or other fruit rolled in a thin layer of pastry and deep-fried, served as a dessert or snack’ an apt description of the outcome of this investigation as far as Guerin is concerned, but leaves the victims wondering, ‘what does somebody have to do to be held to account?’
In his response to the IBAC report, Guerin showed little contrition for his behaviour. Throughout the report, as in his response, the Victims of this despicable behaviour did not receive any acknowledgement, let alone an apology from IBAC or, more pointedly, the Victoria Police.
That no criminal charges were laid is very concerning. At the time of his worst trolling, he was the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Police Professional Standards Command (PSC) responsible for Police internal investigation. This certainly aggravated the behaviour substantially.
At the very least, a clear-cut breach of
Section 474.17(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth) (“the Code”), a person commits an offence if they use a carriage service in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, menacing, harassing or offensive. The “service” can include a fixed or mobile telephone service, an internet service, or an intranet service.
Additionally, there would seem to be another clear-cut case of,
Misconduct in Public Office applicable to at least the first reported complaint.
But of gravest concern to the CAA is the apparent lack of application of investigative skills to this Operation that is neither explained nor addressed. And the continued references to Assistant Commissioner Brett Guerin throughout the report is disingenuous.
Guerin lost his title the day he resigned. It is clear he would rather resign than face the humiliation he deserved. He ran to avoid accountability, and he should never have been allowed to retire.
It’s probably more interesting to look at what the investigation did not discover or what was not reported.
Guerin’s behaviour came to official notice when a complaint was lodged with VicPol and referred to IBAC in 2017.
We understand that a complaint was made by a Blogger who had identified the ISP numbers from a number of trolls by the Guerin pseudonym Vernon Demerest.
The blogger had identified one of the numbers as registered to Victoria Police Centre (VPC) and the other to a private address we presume to be Guerin’s.
VicPol, in the referral to IBAC, would indeed have included this information, or did they? Surely competent investigators would have spoken to all complainants and discovered the ISP addresses, if not passed on, or did they?
However, instead of investigating the matter, IBAC referred the case back to VicPol and surprise, surprise, it was referred to the then Assistant Commissioner Guerin, the head of Police Professional Standards (PSC). He could then investigate himself.
A response was sent to the complainant that there are hundreds of computers in VPC, and it would be impossible to identify who uses which computer.
That little gem we would have thought crossed the line into criminality, Misconduct in Public Office by Guerin, but not according to IBAC.
The not insignificant point that all police computers have to be logged on with a user ID escaped the detecting minds of those charged with that responsibility.
That IBAC did not find evidence that Guerin’s trolling and the vile racist, homophobic, etcetera trolls affected his decision making is extraordinary; obviously, they didn’t look too hard.
Reference was made to an incident that severe racially motivated rants at a police station abusing a senior sergeant’s ethnicity was somehow okay because Guerin said that it was. Guerin said it was taken out of context.
Somehow self-serving statements by a perpetrator are acceptable to be reported and relied upon – IBAC was conned.
That incident ended up with a substantial civil settlement to the Senior Sergeant.
Reading the report, other omissions are unbelievable.
There was the matter of a venue operator of ethnic heritage who was publicly shamed and libelled by Guerin on mainstream media. A Court in that case found in favour of the venue operator against the State (Guerin).
CAA is also aware of another settlement where racism was alleged by an applicant before a selection panel where Guerin was the convenor. Evidence was forwarded to VicPol that showed dishonesty and unprofessionalism by Guerin in the conduct of the selection. A human rights complaint was made. Again, this resulted in a significant settlement that VicPol had to pay.
So, there we have three non-Anglo’s suffering at the hands of Guerin’s decision making, coincidence? I don’t think so. It is a pattern of demonstrated criminal behaviour obviously ignored by IBAC.
The involvement of the CAA in this matter was that we identified the troll as Guerin. Not IBAC or VicPol.
Pilloried by former Chief Commissioner Graeme Ashton, Guerin, and another former Assistant Commissioner Fryer, the rhetoric espoused by Fryer in relation to the CAA and its Chairman Kel Glare appeared in written form under the name of Brett Guerin on our Facebook page.
The diatribe lasted only a short time before it was deleted when Guerin realised his mistake. Recorded by us before deletion, we were amazed to find another post within minutes with the identical diatribe, but under the name of Vernon Demerest, Guerin had blown it. What an idiot,
We had already advised Demerest that we knew it was a Police member and warned the author that the name would be blocked if the trolling continued.
With Guerin’s absurd behaviour, we delightfully responded to Demerest,’ We know who you are. It is a matter of professional standards. We doubt that Guerin would have been too concerned as he had already dodged the bullet once and would be confident his position would protect him.
This exposure was followed by a series of letters to the Chief Commissioner reporting the extent of the trolling, given that we had contact with a number of victims.
Had the CAA not identified Guerin, the trolling would have doubtless continued
Our correspondence of the 12th of April 2017 fell on conveniently deaf ears. We didn’t even receive acknowledgements, let alone any comfort the matter was being addressed.
With apparent inaction by authorities, working with investigative journalist Cameron Houston of the Age, who in turn Neil Mitchell of 3AW, the Chief Commissioner, was asked about the trolling on air, and his response was to dismiss the matter as trivial. Somebody was getting a bit excited on a keyboard.
Guerin was then exposed and came onto the Mitchell Show to admit his trolling and dismiss it as trivial.
The following day Houston wrote a detailed article exposing the extent and the content of the vile trolling. All the significant media mastheads ran the headline about Guerin’s exposure.
The next day Guerin resigned.
The IBAC investigation looks very ordinary when the facts are disclosed, particularly those omitted in their report.
The other glaring anomaly in the IBAC report is the gloss over of the length of time Guerin was trolling for the better part of a decade.
IBAC expects the people of Victoria to accept that a person can troll for that long, espousing the most vial references without them being what the perpetrator thinks? Does it seem IBAC may be accepting that the Guerin ultra-ego is somehow a different person?
Very convenient for the perpetrator and very concerning that this stuff can perhaps sway our Corruption Watchdog.
The other great anomaly in this investigation is that no real or reported effort was made to track down the other players in this artifice.
We are expected to believe that Guerin did not have other sympathisers, barrackers or willing recipients of his work egging him on. We are not that naive.
It is beyond reasonable belief that others were not identified given IBAC had access to all Guerin’s electronic devices, and each transmission sent or received leaves a footprint. Maybe IBAC investigators need some internet training.
It gives us no comfort at all as we have never discounted a theory of an ultraright wing enclave within VicPol fed by Guerin’s rants.
The reality is there is every chance of a ‘Jedi Council’. It has certainly not been discounted.
We have drawn the obvious conclusion that our so-called Corruption Watchdog is lucky to come up with a whimper, but we note they are pretty good at getting a conviction for pillow talk.
Unfortunately, the IBAC is largely a paper tiger when it comes to matters of substance, such as the ICook Foods, Slug-Gate fiasco
by CAA | Oct 20, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
20th October 2021
The Opinion piece by Deputy Police Commissioner Rick Nugent in the Herald Sun on the 19th of October 2021 sets out the extraordinary and successful efforts that Victoria Police is applying to Youth Gang crime.
In so far as the effort is targeted from when a young person first comes to police notice, the work is very commendable but disappointing in its sphere of influence.
The CAA has long argued that by the time a child comes to police notice irrespective of the resources that may then be applied, for far too many, the prognosis for that child is that they will become a recidivist. The cycle is entrenched in them.
In short, ‘The horse has bolted’.
For every young person targeted and effectively removed from a gang either by sanctions or otherwise, a long line of willing aspirants anxiously waiting to fill the voids created.
Understanding and accepting that all young people are and quite properly aspirational is the key. It is a matter of guiding or influencing those aspirations characterised as ‘achieving social prestige and or material success’.
Therefore, the efforts of the Victoria Police in this context are too late. The more significant effect will be achieved if the contact is with the young people before entering the scene and coming to Police notice. We do not encourage the lessening of the operational efforts currently underway; they are essential.
The problem with the gang issue is cultural, and we do not mean culture based on ethnicity, although that may appear to be the case. The point is the culture of misdirected aspirations. And the solution, police having positive interactions with young people before aspirations influence their negative behaviours.
This will reduce the gang culture dramatically by addressing the supply side. It will also positively impact the crime and antisocial behaviour of teenagers more broadly.
We accept that the resource drain on Victoria Police during the Covid pandemic has been astronomical. Therefore, we understand the need not to pursue the Police In School Program (PISP) previously announced by the Chief Commissioner. It would have been pointless as schools went in and out of lockdown. However, as we come out of this pandemic, we would be encouraging the Chief Commissioner to re-establish that commitment so schools can plan their involvement.
While a PISP adequately resourced will have a positive influence, this will not occur overnight; the original programs influence after the closure took a number of years to bleed out of the system; similarly, the reintroduction will take time to have an effect. If past experience is any guide, the time frame of impact by the reintroduction will be relatively short.
Although the PISP was the cornerstone of Police influence on young people, many of the programs that have been mothballed also need to be revisited and built-in support of the schools’ program to increase its effectiveness.
Examples like the Blue Light Program have a role to play. Although there is some argument the core activity is not as popular as it was, that assumption is incorrect as the commercial sector, before Covid, had developed a market for underage Disco’s that they had trouble accommodating due to their popularity.
Blue Light Disco’s support and coordination with the PSIP program will have a dramatic and positive effect.
by CAA | Oct 20, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
20th October 2021
The premier, Daniel Andrews, announced a new law recently – all those on a long list of private and public employees would have to be vaccinated or lose their jobs. The list included those employed in our courts.
Promptly the Chief Justice, Anne Ferguson, announced that judges (among many others) were not bound to obey that law, and the Premier agreed.
The judge’s ruling was not preceded by any complaint, hearing, or other process. It was not a ruling of the Court. So was she saying that judges are above the law? And did Premier Andrews then agree with that?
That would be absurd, of course. It has long been well known that our judges are not above the law. So we are left with the obvious conclusion that Dan Andrews’ “law” is not actually the law at all. He severely overreached himself – and he has agreed. In what other ways has the Premier overreached himself, announcing “laws” on the whim of himself or some faceless fool?
One example may be the curfew that has locked Victorians in their homes, to no apparent good effect (and even while the trains kept on running)! When a legal challenge was mounted the curfew was quietly abandoned, but so far as we know no apology was issued for the poor victims who had been fined in the meantime under the “curfew laws”. Outrageous unlawful “laws” that purportedly have been reinstated at the time of writing.
Much of what the beloved leader has done during this pandemic has been overreach; the deadly “hotel quarantine disaster” of 2019, which led to the deaths of 800 Victorians, reminds us of how the implementation of government policy can sometimes be neither sound nor sensible.
Some policies, becoming de facto “laws”, just go too far to be countenanced. Ask Justice Ferguson.
Mandatory vaccination policies might be seen as just going too far. The Premier’s “laws” have already wreaked economic havoc and saddled us with debts that our great-grandchildren will continue to bear. Deliberately putting even more people out of work to satisfy the drive for uniformity, as opposed to individuality, goes too far to be countenanced.
Ever heard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? We Australians have signed up for that; which means we signed up of the right to refuse to undergo medical treatments if we so choose. The writer, along with most of his friends and colleagues, is vaccinated. That was our choice. But we call the mandated vaccination program – and the policy to force people out of work if they choose to not be vaccinated – simply abusive and outrageous overreach.
by CAA | Oct 16, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
17th October 2021
The Parliamentary Inquiry into the closure of ICook Foods, ‘Slug-gate’, has released its second report into this fiasco. As expected, it weighed heavily into the Health Department and Greater Dandenong Council. Adding substantial weight to the CAA call for Recall petitions for Government and Local Government at https://chng.it/R8HJ8Hk8
The report and all documents referred to in this article can be viewed at https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/1001-lsic-lc/inquiry-into-the-closure-of-i-cook-foods-pty-ltd
The report produced fourteen findings and made five recommendations, and they are in addition to the findings and recommendations of the first report.
The Inquiry wisely steered away from delving into the alleged criminality in this matter. Doing so could compromise due process and risk the success of prosecution; however, they were clear on who should be addressing these issues. A view often expressed by the CAA.
Referring to a leaked Police Briefing Paper the Inquiry recommended-
“It recommended further investigation by Victoria Police to ‘identify any alleged corruption or misuse of office’. However, at the time of the brief, Victoria Police did not pursue the investigation further.
The concerns probed in the police brief are serious allegations which should be fully investigated. As stated in the first report, allegations of this nature call into question the integrity of Victoria’s food safety framework and the processes undertaken by regulatory authorities. “
The Chief Commissioner has announced a further Investigation after this initial Briefing Paper. However, the Victim is less than confident that this investigation is proceeding as he has only been advised that the new Investigators are compiling another report – not an investigation.
The area’s where we believe the Inquiry erred or was misled were-
In relation to the actual closing of ICooks by the Chief Health Officer.
A reference to ‘temporary closure’ of ICooks was, at best ‘disingenuous. The mechanics and processes adopted by Health Department and Greater Dandenong Council ensured that ICook Foods, no matter what ICooks did to address the claimed failures, many spurious; the closure Order was not lifted until well after the period that all current contracts held by ICooks moved into default and clients were forced to move to an alternate supplier decimating the ICooks business.
That process, by any measure, is corruption.
Ironically, and surprise, surprise, there was only one supplier left in the market capable of dealing with this influx, the Government-sponsored and dramatically financially inept basket case, called Community Chef.
Other businesses that would have been capable of dealing with the influx of work due to the closure of ICooks had previously ceased to operate in this space as a result of the entry into the market of Community Chef and their anti-competitive advantages and preferential treatment gifted them by Government making competition against them fraught.
Many of ICooks clients had previously moved to Community Chef after the fanfare of their entering the market but had moved back to ICooks before the Closure Order. This, in part, explains why the Community Chef was only operating at 25% capacity and bleeding rivers of cash.
It is where that river runs that is the key to this issue.
Although the Inquiry report referenced the Auditor General, why the Auditor General wasn’t tasked with examining the money trails of Community Chef when it is clear the motive of this artifice called Community Chef, cost us millions that are unaccounted for defies comprehension.
Where did the money go?
There is the matter of the not insignificant, not far short of $10 Million they borrowed from the ANZ Bank, which we the taxpayers have to repay.
Where did that money go?
How any Bank could possibly countenance a loan of that magnitude to a company with a nine-year track record of failure and as financially inept as Community Chef is again beyond comprehension. The circumstances of this loan and its disbursement need to be examined very closely.
Given the hoops, legitimate borrowers have to go through to get a few thousand dollars, let alone millions, raises some very serious questions as to the propriety and processes around that loan.
The stench of corruption lingers on this transaction.
Accounting trickery identified in the Pitcher Partners Report into the entity’s finances exposed the habit of annual depreciation being manipulated to lessen the annual losses.
The insolvency bullet was dodged by Community Chef by a $1m letter of comfort supplied to the entity by the Health Department- again, our money.
Accounting chicanery? Where was the Auditor General?
In fairness to the Inquiry, we do not believe the ANZ loan was adequately exposed to the Inquiry, and there is perhaps a very good if nefarious, reason to play this down by the bureaucrats involved.
Intelligence that we have been gathering as to the identity of suspected beneficiaries of this artifice is not inconsistent with other matters currently being scrutinised elsewhere; however, there is only one sure way to discover the truth. A Forensic Audit of the financial transactions of the companies that make up Community Chef, and a thorough investigation without fear or favour by Victoria Police.
IBAC may also have a role to play to examine allegations of Police corruption in this matter.
The air needs to be cleared, with the cards to fall, where they may?
That audit, we believe, will expose the true culprits and beneficiaries of both individuals and or other entities.
The unpleasant smell that lingers around this issue is that of something rotten.
The CAA will not be satisfied until the whole issue is properly investigated, and not just the offences committed against ICooks, but also those against the State of Victoria.
by CAA | Oct 15, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
15th Ocrober2021
We have learned that the Andrews Government has appointed Mr. Graham Ashton to inquire into reported failings of the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority – the 000 call takers. Surprising that they did not ask Ms Coate, who did such an outstanding job of finding out who was responsible for setting up the deadly Hotel Quarantine shambles last year.
Which reminds us of Mr. Ashton’s stellar performance record – the only qualification he brings to his new task:
He presided over the decision to NOT prosecute anybody arising out of the Red Shirts Rort. This was the infamous saga in which the Ombudsman, Ms. Deborah Glass found “Labor had created an artifice by paying casual electorate officers to work as part-time campaigners instead of carrying out electorate duties”. But under Mr. Ashton’s supervision and control Victoria Police said “no charges will be laid against any person” – a “very sad day for democracy in Victoria, (and) …a very sad day for the justice system”. (The Age, 15/10/2019);
He was in charge when the Victoria Police dismembered an honest police investigation into the “I Cook Foods” plot. Honest coppers have reported that before they were “re-assigned” under protest, they had found and reported upon clear evidence that several public officials had grossly misused their positions;
We remember also the awful, deadly, implementation of Hotel Quarantine “oversight” by untrained, unqualified and unsupervised so-called Security Guards – a decision that most fifth year constables would have recognised as doomed to failure from the outset and which constituted greatest single policy failure in the State’s history. According to The Guardian (9/10/20) then Chief Commissioner Ashton texted a message saying this was “a deal set up by the Department of Premier and Cabinet” but he reportedly could not remember, and he did not keep a diary – right?
Oh, and perhaps we should also recall the Lawyer X affair – this was not commenced while Mr. Ashton was Chief Commissioner, but certainly the disgraced Office of Police Integrity was closely involved in it – the OPI where Mr. Ashton was Director of Operations. Nothing wrong with the regulator being involved in the operations they were supposedly auditing is there? No conflict there? That affair has been officially labelled, by Vicpol, “a profound failure of policing” and Mr. Ashton fought for years to have it covered up while he WAS Chief Commissioner. That is to say, he was in charge of the multi-million-dollar effort to prevent the disclosure of “reprehensible conduct… and …. “atrocious breaches of the sworn duties imposed on every police officer” (High Court of Australia AB v CD; EF v CD)
We are confident Mr. Andrews will find Mr. Ashton’s ultimate report satisfactory.
by CAA | Oct 12, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
13th October 2021
It seems that if you are a victim of a crime, you can no longer rely on authorities to protect you and hold the perpetrators to account.
Or have we entered a new social phase where it’s not the crime but who committed it that determines whether the offenders are investigated and prosecuted.
This new and developing social order has historical equals.
You have to look no further than the French Revolution for a comparison. After suffering years of oppression, the Third Estate (us) revolted in a violent struggle resulting in many of the first Estates heads parting company with their bodies courtesy of the guillotine. Barbaric as that was, the modern metaphorical outcome for many may be just as humiliating and decisive and we would argue the process has started.
So, what to do when the ‘system’ is stacked. The team assisting Ian Cook, the victim of the Slug-gate affair, are vigorously exploring alternatives.
The team is currently discussing strategies with eminent legal practitioners who believe that the ‘system’ has failed.
As CAA has delved further into the Slug-gate debacle, where a family business, ICooks Foods, was the victim of criminal acts perpetrated by the ‘system’, we have been shocked at where the tentacles of this unlawful activity reach and into which bastions of our society it seems to have corrupted. Health Department, Victoria Police, Politicians, a raft of local governments, and the Government funded, Community Chef Board and management.
Evidence is constantly emerging, and that evidence now clearly implicates some very senior people. Conflict of interest, incompetence, conflicted relationships, and downright dishonesty, lying under oath, manipulating legal processes and suspected bribery are there to see for those willing to look.
The complete failure of these bastions is very perplexing and draws us towards the conclusion of a cover-up of more dire criminal proportions.
The complete failure thus far, by those charged with protecting us from corruption, have failed the Cook family and their employees in the first instant, but arguably on a higher plane the people of this State who pay the wages of those who are supposed to protect us. We also pay handsomely the people responsible for criminal acts against us; we pay for the privilege.
No wonder many Victorians feel reamed.
It is now two years since this egregious behaviour when Mr Cook lost his business and his employees their livelihood, perpetrated by Government officials and bureaucrats was reported to Police by Mr Cook, and a whistle-blower independently reported the corruption to IBAC.
Mr Cook, the victim, has no more confidence now than when the nightmare started that a proper investigation is being undertaken. He has lost count of the various investigators that the matter has been shuffled through.
This process is a bit like doctor shopping – eventually, somebody will achieve an outcome that comforts the Police hierarchy directly involved.
There are two documents currently available on the Parliamentary website that we would encourage you to read. Go to https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lsic-lc/inquiries/article/4807
The first, a report from Pitcher Partners, sheds light on motive and gives an insight into how our taxes are used and abused.
The second is a report from the Detectives that undertook the first ICooks investigation and perhaps indicates why some in Victoria Police would like to see this investigation buried, presumably because it may expose them.
The report details the criminality of the ICooks affair and was submitted to VicPol hierarchy in June 2020 sixteen months ago and still no action against the suspects, as far as the Victim knows.
That lack of action is inexcusable particularly given that many of the offences are straightforward and most of the Police work has already been done by retired Police.
It certainly gives the impression that a ‘cover-up‘, is afoot.
That VicPol is vigorously trying to block a Freedom of Information issue relating to ICooks through VCAT lends strength to the theory. The Government Model Litigant Rules seems to have been ignored in this matter.
On that point, you would have thought that within Victoria Police, they would have learnt that cover-ups rarely succeed, and when exposed, cause more pain than coming clean in the first instance, think Gobbo.
The evidence is so strong in the ICooks matter that the chances that a prosecution may fail are extremely low, and that takes into account prosecutors ‘running dead’.
And we are not referring to ‘Jay walking’. The offences we identified are all very serious and carry substantial jail time on conviction – we contend, nobody is above the law. The various agencies must pursue the perpetrators without fear or favour.
Whether the Police have some difficulty in pursuing the matter because of the victim’s alleged connection at the Parliamentary Inquiry to the death of an eighty-nine-year-old (89) patient at Knox Private Hospital is not known.
However, the inference was put to the Parliamentary Inquiry by multiple bureaucrat witnesses in an attempt to paint ICooks as the perpetrator without any conclusive proof. The poor lady weighed 38 kilos and was 185cm (Over 6 ft) tall, and she had a blood-born infection when presented at the hospital and other very serious health issues.
This patient was clearly in the ‘end of life phase’ at 98 and the alleged listeriosis infection, an easily treated pathogen, that can be cured in a hospital environment in a matter of a couple of days at most, would have had no influence on her ultimate demise which occurred many days after she was admitted to the Knox Hospital.
Conspicuous by their absence was the medical records and pathology reports routinely done in any Hospital that would have supported the bureaucrat’s assertions. With months to prepare for the Inquiry and unlimited resources this omission is significant.
A competent investigator would easily have found no connection between ICook Foods and the unfortunate death if they cared to look.
Evidence also exists, which is also irrefutable, that a number of people made false affidavits (Perjury) in an attempt to prosecute the victim – the malicious prosecutions all failed, not without substantial cost to the innocent victim and the public purse.
The investigations carried out by the ICooks team have established the truth within CCTV footage that shows that the perpetrators committed Perjury and attempted to Pervert the Course of Justice supporting the general thrust of the original investigators report.
The current work of the ICooks team will potentially spawn a new speciality within the Legal profession representing victims who have not received justice through bureaucratic interference, corruption, dishonesty, or ineptitude.
The ‘bureaucratic system’ is geared to protect itself and use the depth of its resources to protect perpetrators and to avoid accountability of those within. Ironically the people who decide to use these resources, our money, are generally seriously conflicted and are commonly the suspected perpetrators.
Thought must be given to how these decisions to dip into the public purse can be done without conflicted people making or influencing these decisions.
ICooks is exploring a new legal strategy and the perpetrators, which stretches into double figures, will now become quite twitchy as the metaphoric rope tightens its grip.
The ballot box is not the only weapon available.
You will be held to account.
You can count on it.
by CAA | Oct 12, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
12th October 2021
The Community Advocacy Alliance Inc. Calls for Action.
Disgraced former Labor Minister, Luke Donnellan, must immediately resign from Parliament. Donnellan said, “I don’t believe it is possible or appropriate to maintain my ministerial responsibilities given these rule breaches.” The Community Advocacy Alliance Inc. (CAA) agrees but simply resigning as a Minister is not acceptable. Donnellan must go.
Donnellan has been named on oath at the current IBAC Inquiry as being involved in rorting of the public purse and in ‘branch stacking’ which strikes at the heart of our democracy.
Former New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, resigned as Premier and as a member of Parliament when simply faced with an announcement she was to be investigated. This is right and proper under our Westminster System of Government. Donnellan must do the same to preserve our ethical standards of government that have been so damaged by the Labor Government of Victoria.
The Community Advocacy Alliance Inc. (CAA) has proposed that legislation be introduced in Victoria to allow a corrupt, inept, unaccountable government to be forced to an early election. The details of the proposal for a ‘Recall Petition’ are on the CAA website (caainc.org.au) and this has already attracted over 22,000 signatures.
Recall Petition legislation is in use around the world to restrain governments and local governments and public officials from improper behaviour. Signing the CAA Petition will exert pressure on every government, of whatever persuasion, to introduce legislation to ensure accountability in future. Accountability sadly lacking in Victoria at present.
The public interest must be served and be seen to be served.
And Donnellan must go.
by CAA | Oct 12, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
12th October 2021
Misconduct in public office is broadly defined. It can be any conduct by a public sector employee which is unlawful or fails to meet the ethical or professional standards required in the performance of duties or the exercise of powers entrusted to them.
Misconduct generally occurs when a public officer abuses authority for personal gain, causes detriment to another person or acts contrary to the public interest.
Following the notorious “Red Shirts Rort” heavily criticised by the Ombudsman where Labor paid back $388.000.00 of money rorted from the public purse, and where no criminal charges were brought, we are now faced with another major Labor scandal involving Branch Stacking.
Counsel assisting IBAC, Chris Carr SC, told the current inquiry there was evidence of systematic rorting of taxpayer resources in the Labor Party, and Branch stacking which strikes at the very heart of our democratic system of government.
Carr’s direct quote: “One would not have expected that the misuse of public officers for political purposes would have continued after the Ombudsman’s report was published in March 2018, “he told the inquiry.”
Federal Labor MP Anthony Byrne told the inquiry his staff were performing factional work during the day, while they were being paid by the taxpayer.
A claim that this is not unlawful fails any test. Clearly those engaged are prima facie guilty of misconduct in public office under the definition set out above.
Are those responsible for this rort to be again excused? Surely time to put those responsible before a court of law. Or are politicians a protected species to whom the law does not apply?
The Community Advocacy Alliance Inc. demands that no, “Get out of jail free” card be played in this matter and that prosecutions be brought against those involved in the public interest.
by CAA | Oct 7, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
7th October 2021
The Community Advocacy Alliance Inc. (CAA) has been highly critical of the sentencing practices of Victorian Courts where judges persistently impose less than maximum sentences, which are set by Parliament, on habitual criminals.
The Herald-Sun of 3 October 2021, an article by Rebekah Cavanagh, describes the criminal career of one John Lindrea, a criminal who has been in jail for all but four years of his adult life and is currently awaiting sentencing for a violent armed robbery where a firearm was held to the head of an innocent victim. The terror of this for the woman victim can only be imagined.
Lindrea has prior convictions for a double murder, bank hold-ups and escaping from prison. When arrested for his latest armed robbery, Lindrea refused to identify his co-offender or disclose what happed to the firearms involved. The firearms were found hidden at the scene of the robbery seven months later.
On 4 October 2021, John Lindrea was sentenced to eleven and a half years jail with a minimum of eight years and nine months before being eligible for parole.
The maximum penalty for armed robbery in Victoria is 25 years’ imprisonment. However, the most common imprisonment length for armed robbery from 2014–15 to 2018–19 was three to four years. Why?
What is going on in our courts? Where are the rights of victims being addressed? What regard did the court have to the terror of the victim in Lindrea’s case having a loaded shotgun put to her head and expecting to be killed?
Lindrea is a double murderer and a convicted armed robber with a long criminal history. Surely we can expect our courts to impose maximum sentences, as set by Parliament, in cases like that of Lindrea. Only a maximum sentence could keep us safe from this habitual violent offender.
If judges continue to ignore Parliament, the CAA calls on Parliament to create a Commission of Judicial Performance Review with the capacity to sanction judges who consistently ignore Parliament and act as a law unto themselves.
by CAA | Oct 3, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized
4th October 2021
The Community Advocacy Alliance Inc. (CAA) has consistently criticised the present Victorian Government for its inability to prevent its bureaucrats from acting corruptly. The ICook Foods fiasco is a classic and ongoing example.
Now we have Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) facing 58 charges brought by WorkSafe, alleging the DHHS endangered the lives of its workers, security guards and hotel quarantine guests (not the bureaucrats) when it failed to provide a safe workplace for its employees and failed to ensure people were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
Departments are not the decision makers – it is bureaucrats within those departments who make the decisions. At the heart of these issues is that no one is held accountable. The Coate Inquiry was unable to determine just who made the critical but flawed decisions. A plethora of, “I can’t remember” responses from Ministers and officials was a plague of a different kind.
What is certain is that DHHS mistakes in hotel quarantine drove the state’s deadly second wave of COVID-19.
The effort to stop Covid 19 spreading was doomed from the moment already established protocols for dealing with disasters, including pandemics, were ignored by the Government and they set off on a frolic of their own proclaiming they knew best. They did not.
The Coate ‘snowflake inquiry’ into the failed system linked 768 deaths during the second wave back to the hotels.
WorkSafe alleges the DHH failed to appoint people with infection prevention and control expertise at the hotels, failed to provide security guards with appropriate infection control training and did not provide, at least initially, written instructions on how to use protective gear.
In all charges, the health and safety regulator said the DHHS employees, the government’s authorised officers and security guards were put at risk of contracting COVID-19 and serious illness or death.
The Coate Inquiry linked ninety-nine per cent’ of Victoria’s second wave cases to the hotel quarantine fiasco.
The maximum penalty for each of the charges is irrelevant as any fines imposed are returned to the State’s coffers.
The charges are listed to go before a Magistrates Court for a filing hearing on October 22. Of course, ultimately a plea of guilty would assure only a summary of the evidence would be given to the court again ensuring the guilty politicians and officials are protected.
Coate’s inquiry found poor infection prevention and control measures were the genesis of outbreaks that seeded in the community from the Rydges on Swanston and the Stamford Plaza.
The then Health Minister, Ms Mikakos, resigned a day after Premier Daniel Andrews’ evidence to the Inquiry, in which he accepted he was ultimately responsible for Government decisions.
The CAA now asks, if Premier Andrews was ultimately responsible, why has he not been charged by Work Safe? Why have other Ministers and Department Officials involved in these shambles not been charged? Those responsible for the decisions that led to this tragedy of hundreds of deaths and thousands of serious illnesses must be charged and held to account.
The failure of Work Safe to bring charges against the individuals involved cannot remain unchallenged.
