An explosive corruption inquiry started in the NSW parliament on Thursday regarding corruption in the police, judiciary and public service. The allegations include illegal phone tapping, dodgy affidavits by police, dodgy warrants by judges, bribery, cover-ups by senior police, public servants and politicians etc. It is bound to lead to a Royal Commission
Attempted bribery allegations were made against NSW Attorney-General Brad Hazzard who it is alleged tried to bribe another MP to close down the inquiry. The allegations were made by NSW MP Robert Borsak, who is a member of the Shooters and Fishers Party, at the start of the upper house inquiry.
Background
It is not complex. The police were illegally bugging phones and using listening devices trying to find corrupt police. The police were able to do this with some extremely questionable and/or corrupt warrants issued by over 20 Supreme Court judges.
1999 – 2001
NSW Police Special Crime and Internal Affairs unit (SCIA) and the NSW Crime Commission conduct Operation Mascot into corrupt NSW police officers. It was run by Andrew Scipione (between 2001 and 2002) and Catherine Burn, who is now a Deputy Commissioner. Mr Scipione is now NSW Police Commissioner. It bugged 119 people, most of them serving or former police.
Warrants issued by Supreme Court judges to allow the bugging were in some cases issued based on dodgy evidence by the police or in some cases no evidence at all. It is alleged that more than 20 Supreme Court judges were involved including Justice Bell who is now a judge of the High Court of Australia and who issued a warrant to bug 112 people in 2000. One of the people bugged was Nick Kaldas who is now a Deputy Commissioner.
2003
Strike Force Emblems was set up in 2003 to investigate the controversial listening-device warrant approved in September 2000.
Strike Force Emblems interviewed 35 people who complained about their names being on the warrant. Emblems found there was no justification for 22 of those, including Mr Kaldas, being on the warrant. Overall, it found that of the 114 people named, there was probably no justification for 54 of them being on it.
Successive NSW governments have refused to release the Emblems report. (Click here to read more)
2012
In 2012 Barry O’Farrell who was then Premier asked NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour to examine its allegations and he set up Operation Prospect to investigate. Mr Barbour has spent 2 years wasting time and still has not published a report. It is alleged that Mr Barbour has conducted a witch hunt to find out who leaked information about the previous inquiry.
2014
Last year the Labor Party, Greens and Shooters and Fishers Party set up the current parliamentary inquiry. The current government led by Premier Mike Baird have done everything they can to stop the parliamentary inquiry.
Allegation of attempted bribe Brad Hazzard
NSW MP Robert Borsak of the Shooters and Fishers Party made the allegations against Brad Hazzard and said:
On Thursday, Mr Borsak said Mr Hazzard made an unannounced visit to his parliament house office on November 14 and the conversation lasted about 30 minutes.
“In my view … the Attorney-General sought to cajole me, then threaten me and ultimately tried to bribe me into withdrawing from the inquiry, thus causing it to be delayed or probably to fail,” Mr Borsak said.
Mr Borsak said Mr Hazzard said it was his legal duty to warn him that the inquiry “was upsetting all the judges and senior legal people of this state”. (Click here to read more)
So who are these judges and senior legal people? Did they lobby Mr Hazzard directly to close down the parliamentary inquiry? Brad Hazzard should be forced to name them.
Police v Police
NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas has aggressively attacked NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and NSW Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn for their roles in investigating him during Operation Mascot from 1999 to 2001. Mr Kaldas also attacked NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour.
“NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas has launched a blistering attack on NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour, claiming his treatment by an investigation into a long-running bugging scandal was worse than how police would be allowed to treat a criminal.”
“In sensational evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into Mr Barbour’s two-year investigation into the bugging scandal, Mr Kaldas likened the way Mr Barbour has conducted his inquiry to the “horrors” of notorious US Senator Joseph McCarthy’s pursuit of communists in the 1950s.”
“We the police could not treat criminals this way and neither should we,” he said. (Click here to read more)
Andrew Scipione
Andrew Scipione has to resign or be sacked so the police force can start to regain the public’s confidence. His credibility has been destroyed with the evidence that has come out during the inquiry. What makes it even worse is that the government was trying to hide it and also promoted him in extremely suspicious circumstances. “Andrew Scipione was investigated over allegations he leaked details of a police bugging operation a decade ago but cleared within 24 hours to facilitate a plan to promote him to deputy commissioner, an explosive document reveals.” (Click here to read more)
Premier Mike Baird and the NSW election
Premier Mike Baird is in crisis management mode given the scandalous revelations of the last few days. It will cost his party at the NSW state election which is only 2 months away on the 28th of March and it is because of his own failed attempt to cover-up the corruption.
Premier Baird is refusing to take action even though the corruption is at the extreme end of the scale in relation to public concern and highly likely only the tip of the iceberg.
“some of the affidavits presented to Supreme Court judges contained no information that would justify the surveillance, and some of their contents were false.” (Click here to read more)
There needs to be another Royal Commission into the NSW police with the last one being the Wood Royal Commission 20 years ago. This time though it has to include the judiciary.
Mike Baird’s credibility is shot to pieces and it was only a few weeks ago that I wrote about Premier Baird failing to act regarding judicial corruption. (Click here to read the post) Covering up corruption seems to be an art form that Mike Baird has mastered very quickly.
Admin: I am back in court at 12pm on Monday with Kerry Stokes (the defamation matter) who also managed to have the Supreme Court issue a Super-injunction that was not justified. (Click here to read my written submissions) It seems not much has changed since 1999 and Operation Mascot as per above.
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Categories: Brad Hazzard, Mike Baird, Robert Borsak
How Many Royal Commissions do we have to have to realise that our so called Police Force is a total and utter disgrace ,all of the Previous Commissions all related around deceit ,lying ,and of course sexual abuse , the terms of Reference are always inadequate and designed that way to shield the real Criminals and so nothing is ever done .
One only has to look at the Book Dirty Deeds By Glen McNamara ,Kings Cross in the 80’s to realise this , So if our So called Police are corrupt and involved with Paedophilia and Crime , and the Ju-dicial system the same what Hope do we have of living in a society without Rule Of Law , When will the real men Step forward ? I suggest a lie detector for all Police and Mp’s that would I believe solve the problems only thing is we would have to replace 90%of those Criminals with real people who don’t lie is this possible ? Good Luck in court Shane !
Only New Laws will stop this corruption
Last year ICAC declined to investigate Mr Borsak’s allegations which are very serious in nature. Obviously, ICAC is not independent. We should have an inquiry into corruption in ICAC, should not we?
Around 1962, as a Police Cadet, all of 16 years of age, Superintendent of Country was found in the toilets of Police HQ with a bullet wound to the head and his service pistol beside him. Our Sen Sgt that was OC of cadets in HQ at the time, made the statement at the time, “Oh he had done it, he was suffering from cancer and he has done himself in”. As green cadet at the time I accepted the reason for the death, I was concerned with the entry point of the bullet being in the center of his forehead. It was some months later when I was looking at Special Branch and I made the statement to the Sgt in charge at the time about the sorry case of the Superintendent of Country’s sad passing by his own hand, the Sgt then informed me that if I believe that he did it himself then I didnt belong in the NSW Police. I told him I was a little concerned with the entry point of the round and the difficulty in turning ones hand to make that wound. The Sgt then went on to tell me he had all the evidence to charge the Police Commissioner for running al the prostitution in Sydney and the Premier of NSW for running all the gambling in the State. He was right, I could not stand the corruption in the force at that time, and I resigned. I do not think the politics and policing has changed much to this date, and not only in NSW.
we also have to start on these so called investigating bodies that are supposed to investigate these crooked police but they to are only as good as the governments that police them
Shane,
Just want to wish you good luck in court on Monday.
In regard to corruption, we almost drown in it.
The Royal Commission in Victoria seems also to be rigged or at least the investigation in certain matters were totally inadequate, yet a conclusion was published.
Now with a Labor-government in office, what hope will we have that they will act, none at all.
Honestly I hope you are not giving up, as there are so few journalists like you.
The fight seems to become more difficult as time goes on..
An interesting proposition. A royal Commission into the Judiciary, the police force and the public service, Who will run the Royal Commission? It will be a bit like Dracular investigating Dracular.
Yes, but we have to start somewhere. There is nothing to stop some independent people from the public sitting on the Royal Commission panel as they are doing with the Child Abuse Royal Commission.
I agree with you Shane. There are positive moves afoot. Have a look at the Access to Justice Report put out by the Productivity Commission.
The Commissioner states.
Refer Access to Justice. Productivity Commission Report Overview. pg 10
“Governing legislation needs to be amended to ensure that consumer protection is the explicit and primary objective of complaint bodies”
This is a shift but they will try and sweep it under the carpet.
I have to admit (yet again) that I am not surprised at all, corruption in the NSW Police is almost a tradition from the days of the Rum Corp and with what I have seen with the Forgotten 300 and everything else, the mess just gets worse for the NSW Government.. !!
How many Royal Commissions or Inquires can any State or Federal Government need to be called for, before you just call it endemic and terminal, wanting a complete change of everything and everyone FIRED… !!
This is just getting more ridiculous by the minute, lets just call the Australian Dollar the Aussie Peso and declare Australia a Banana Republic…. Because the Corruption is at about that level, our are we just realizing that it always has been and can never change…!!
A good start might be to Declare Political Parties Illegal, seeing they have the same standing as a Social Club, forget about the Masons and the Illuminati crud, we have Secrete Societies or Societies with Secretes operating right in plan sight… they are the LNP, ALP and the Judiciary just to name a couple..!!
Fourteen of the first 25 Prime Ministers were Freemasons , I have all their names ,to suggest to forget about all that “crud ” to me, is to suggest that we just keep living a lie, look where that has got us ? We need mass sackings Jail and Deterrents most of all we need lie Detectors to sort the men from the boys that has to be a starting point in my view and we need it now more than ever .
Terrific work, Shane! I think you may have joined the ranks of Brian Toohey and Bob Bottom with all the dirt you dig up. Keep it up.
Haters be hated. The vast majority of NSW Police and the other Police forces in Australia are hard working and honest doing a job that wins more vocal enemies than friends. The job can be thankless and depressing. Why tar every man or women in blue with the same brush over the actions of a select few. Until you have knocked on someone’s door at 2am to tell that their child has been killed in a crash or picked up body parts on the side of the road or between railway tracks you critics have no idea. There will always be corruption in EVERY occupation whether it is garbage collectors or politics. It is a fact of life but it is up to the honest people to try and prevent, identify it and slow it down because it will never be stopped. There will be always someone looking for an advantage.
A select few, I was a police officer too once and resigned due to corruption. It is not a select few and always starts at the top. Whilst it is at the top the police force will never be any good and no different any corrupt forces of third world countries