Rev Nile Supports Police Integrity Improvements

Thursday June 29, 2008

Rev. Fred Nile - Media Release

The Rev Fred Nile, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, has supported the ‘Police Integrity Commission Amendment (Crime Commission) Bill 2008’ in the NSW Upper House.

“The Christian Democratic Party supports the Police Integrity Commission Amendment (Crime Commission) Bill 2008, which will give the Police Integrity Commission jurisdiction to detect, investigate and prevent serious misconduct and corruption within the New South Crime Commission. The Government has advised that the Independent Commission Against Corruption is the current oversight body of the New South Wales Crime Commission. However, the Government advises further that the powers of the ICAC in that regard are limited to investigation and prevention of potential corruption only. It was news to me when I read that. As a member of the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption I was never advised that the ICAC had that active role. It seems to me that no organisation has had oversight of the New South Wales Crime Commission. The Government now seeks to correct that anomaly”, said Rev Fred Nile.

“If the Government's contention is correct, that the ICAC was the oversight body of the New South Wales Crime Commission, it would seem that the ICAC was not aware that it had that power. There seems to be some confusion in that regard. When the committee next meets with the commissioners and inspectors of the ICAC I will ask them what they understood their role to be.
The Leader of the Opposition referred to the events at the New South Wales Crimes Commission that led to the bill being introduced. We know that the case against a former assistant director of the New South Wales Crime Commission, Mike Standen, is before the courts at the moment, but we know also of other allegations that prisoners have been released early on the recommendation of officers of the Crime Commission, that some investigations have not proceeded to conclusion, and that certain court cases have failed to lead to prosecution. Such allegations raise many questions. Have officers of the New South Wales Crimes Commission been involved in corrupt behaviour? Has bribery and corruption been occurring? As the saying goes, where there is smoke there must be fire. I find it difficult to accept that the blame for all those allegations can be laid at the feet of one person; that no-one else had knowledge of these things. After all, investigators and assistant directors work in teams.

There is no doubt that the better result would be that another organisation be appointed the oversight body, as suggested by the Leader of the Opposition. The weakness in the decision to have the Police Integrity Commission do the oversighting is that it looks as if police will be investigating police. Should the ICAC be the oversighting body? I would ask the Government to give consideration to that suggestion and to ensuring that the ICAC is given the necessary powers to carry out that role. The Police Integrity Commission should be left to concentrate on the role for which it was established rather than have the added burden of having to oversight the New South Wales Crime Commission.

The danger that I see in this proposal—and there have been instances of this happening overseas—is that sophisticated members of organised crime are able to penetrate bodies such as the Crime Commission and even the Independent Commission Against Corruption. In the recent case—and I acknowledge that corruption may not have been involved on this occasion—a female associate of an offender finished up working at the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Whether that person had access to confidential information or not is not known. The point is that no organisation is immune from penetration. People in organised crime are skilled in this and at compromising people in such organisation, making them beholden, as servants to organised criminals. That is what happened in the Crime Commission, and people involved in crime have been able to get away with it. Of great concern is that the names of confidential informants of the Crime Commission are now known to people in organised crime. Are the lives of the informants at risk? And what is even more serious, are the activities and identities of undercover police assigned to penetrate organised crime groups being revealed by people working in the Crime Commission?

I was surprised when it was announced that the former assistant director of the New South Wales Crime Commission who is currently under investigation has a gambling addiction and other problems. Surely there is some monitoring of staff in sensitive bodies such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission? That the former assistant director had a gambling addiction seemed to have little effect on his role and future role in the organisation. I acknowledge that staff monitoring raises issues of privacy and so on, but I believe it is important that staff in these organisations are monitored to assess their potential for blackmail because of a gambling or drug addiction or sexual activity.
Although I support the bill, I ask the Government to give consideration at some time in the future to reviewing whether the Police Integrity Commission or some other organisation is the appropriate body to carry out this oversight role. Because of reservations about police investigating police—nothing to do with dishonesty—it may be preferable that the ICAC is given the necessary powers to undertake this role. The officers who work in these bodies should be beyond reproach and trustworthy, and be able to keep information secure and confidential. I support the bill”, Rev Nile stated.

For Media Interviews contact:

Rev Fred Nile
(02) 9230 2478 or 0418 619 731

Research Assistant:
David Copeland
(02) 9230 2978