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- 29 May 2007
Operation Retz
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Page: 311
The Hon. CHARLIE LYNN [5.31 p.m.]: Last year I expressed concern over what appeared to be a political cover-up in regard to an internal police investigation codenamed Operation Retz. The investigation was initiated in 1999 to examine the numerous complaints against senior New South Wales police officers from 1994 through to the time of the investigation. As a result of this concern the Opposition and some members of the crossbench supported a motion for the tabling of the report. In a desperate attempt to deny public access to the report the Government convinced a couple of crossbench members that some police informants might be identified and compromised. The House then moved that the report be made available under privilege. In response NSW Police then used a technique known as "dump-truck discovery" in delivering the papers to the House. The report and some 30,000 pages of unindexed documents were delivered to a secure room in this Parliament, with access restricted to members only. At the same time, NSW Police were acting in open defiance of a ruling of the New South Wales Supreme Court to release the report.
I have examined the report in detail and I have looked through some of the supporting documents. I do not intend to discuss the contents of the report. However, I can advise honourable members that the Government's concern to protect the identity of police informants might have been more credible if it had also expressed a desire to protect the identity of the junior police who summoned the courage to lodge a complaint that led to the investigation in the first place. My examination of the report revealed that this was not necessary, as the senior police under investigation for corrupt practices already knew the identity of the complainants and informants.
The Government could argue that the release of 30,000 pages of supporting documents would identify witnesses and should remain under privilege, but it has no justification for not allowing the report to be tabled. My major concern about the Operation Retz report and a couple of other reports conducted during the same period is a systemic failure of leadership practices in NSW Police. I am also concerned about the pervasive and oppressive culture of fear in the police region covered by Operation Retz.
The material I have reviewed reveals a disturbing insight into incompetent and corrupt leadership and management practices at the highest levels of NSW Police. More disturbingly, the report reveals that the insidious nature of these incompetent and corrupt practices extends into the offices of the NSW Ombudsman and the Police Integrity Commission. Although much of the material in the report is highly disturbing, the reality is that the corrupt leadership culture in NSW Police is probably worse than what is indicated in the report because the practice of assigning junior police officers to investigate senior police officers is flawed. The detective inspector in charge of Operation Retz simply did not have the rank, the experience or the investigative or interrogative skills to identify the full extent of the corrupt practices encountered during the investigation.
The report reveals that this was not an oversight. A serving commander of equal rank with a formidable professional reputation was removed from the investigation because of a complaint by the officer being investigated. This decision meant that the full extent of corrupt practices within the leadership of NSW Police would never be revealed. Even so, the material in the Operation Retz report that I have examined is so damaging that its release would undermine public confidence in the NSW Police hierarchy. This view is supported by an email to the Premier from eight former New South Wales police officers on 1 December 2006. I quote the first paragraph, which states:
The sad reality of Operation Retz is that its exposure of rigging of police investigations, cover-up of criminal activity and conspiracies at the highest levels of police service, rigging of police promotions to support lovers and other favoured candidates and to undermine the careers of those not securely ensconced in a patronage network, and the bullying and intimidation of junior police who dared to challenge the incompetence and corruption of their superiors, goes to the heart of what is wrong with the New South Wales Police. Indeed, 10 years after a royal commission which focused largely on the bottom ranks of the Police Service, the situation is so bad that we need a serious Commission of Inquiry or a Royal Commission into the senior command of the New South Wales Police.
These are very serious claims that should be addressed by this House as a matter of urgency. If they are not, we, as selected members of Parliament, are neglecting and betraying the people of this State who expect us to provide proper protection for their families and communities, rather than condone a pervasive culture of corruption within the leadership ranks of the New South Wales police force. The Government achieved its aim of keeping this report from the public in the lead-up to the recent election, and NSW Police has been able to escape the demands of the New South Wales Supreme Court by quietly settling its case against former Detective Sergeant Tim Priest. It now has an obligation to table the report so that the systemic failures in NSW Police leadership in New South Wales can be properly addressed.
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