Whistleblowing

Whistleblowers Australia Inc. is an association for those who have exposed corruption or any form of malpractice, especially if they were then hindered or abused, and for those who are thinking of exposing it or who wish to support those who are doing so.

All it needs for evil to flourish is for people of good will to do nothing.–

Edmund Burke

Before even thinking about putting yourself in the firing line, please have a good look at Whistleblowers Australia’s website (link below).  There are contacts, who can help you find your way and a wealth of information on things like how to blow the whistle, the legislation you can use and some wonderful whistleblower stories to inspire you   The President is the amazing Cynthia Kardell.  She took over from Dr Jean Lennane many years ago and is a wealth of information, wisdom and kindness.   The Vice President and editor of the newsletter ‘The Whistle’ is Dr Brian Martin , who has been advising, writing and running his own sister site for decades also.

http://www.whistleblowers.org.au

https://www.facebook.com/Whistleblowers-Australia-Inc-172621456093012

https://www.bmartin.cc/dissent/index – includes back copies of The Whistle.

A new comer I have to give a mention to, is the National Director of Whistleblowers Australia, Dr Lynn Simpson. The high-profile vet who was in the merchant navy for a decade and has travelled the world fighting live export. Whistleblowers come from all ages and walks of life. Unfortunately, most of us don’t even realise the journey we have instigated by taking that first action of pointing out corruption or wrong doing. Without the right support and advice, it can become a serious hazard for one’s health.

Founding member and President for many years of Whistleblowers Australia.  In the early days of the organisation the meetings were held in my loungeroom at Balmain. We were both also on the Internal Witness Advisory Committee, otherwise known as IWAC.

I went to Queanbeyan Court for a Coroners Hearing with Jean.  We were both made party to the bar table, representing Whistleblowers Australia.  It was a very painful and long experience with much harassment and abuse along the way from different directions.  The findings at the end of the matter were that our member was dead, but no cause of death was found.  This guy had reported grave police corruption and was in fear of his life in his communications with members just prior to his demise.

Queanbeyan Police station has had a history of whispers about its Police culture.  Bullying, intimidation, ‘pulling rank’ and coercing other officers into ‘cover ups’ are certainly nothing new in police forces across Australia.

Constable Lucie Litchfield from Queanbeyan Police Station was working with two male officers when they pulled over a car.  The occupants were asked if they had any weapons, a passenger in the back seat produced a plastic toy dinosaur as a joke and made a roaring sound. For his prank the man was then forcibly pulled from the vehicle, kicked in the legs, and had his face shoved into the ground before being handcuffed. A second passenger was thrown into a retaining wall, where he hit his head and lost consciousness. This man ‘came to’ handcuffed with his face in the dirt.

Charges brought against the men were thrown out of court after officer Litchfield testified against her fellow officer’s despite being told to support their version of the events.  This was the beginning of the end of Lucie’s career at Queanbeyan.  The price for being an honest cop and standing up to the culture had a big price to pay.

The NSW police officer, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, whose allegations of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church contributed to the launching of the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse, last year said he had been harassed and smeared within the police force because he was effectively seen to be criticising police investigations.

After he appeared on the ABC’s Lateline to raise allegations that the Catholic Church had covered up evidence of child sexual abuses he said he was contacted by a senior police officer telling him to stop speaking to the media. He had alleged that internal police elements had hindered the police investigations into the child sexual abuses.

Peter Fox is the most humble and honest man I have ever met.  He is kind and threw himself on the sword of the NSW Police because he knew it was the right thing to do, and because of all the children he would be saving.  He lost his career, he was treated unbelievably, and yet he smiled at me and said, “I love today playing in the garden with my grandkids”.  They didn’t silence him; they didn’t destroy him, even though they gave it their best shot.  A true hero and a great man.

Independent New South Wales Politician Mr John Hatton had to wait twenty years for the situation where the three independent MP’s had the balance of power and could force a Royal Commission into police corruption in New South Wales. John is an honest and strong man who has an aura of strength and integrity about him. I trusted John and finally he brought the truth out. The other two independent MP’s Clover Moore and Dr Peter MacDonald, with the Labor Party led by Bob Carr voted for and achieved the establishment of the Wood Royal Commission.

We would have meetings at my home trying to find other police who would come forward and give statutory declarations about current police corruption.  Morgan Ogg was a reporter who was secretly working on this with Hatton.  He had frizzy brown hair in a pony tail and would have passed as an undercover cop.  A quiet, great man who worked behind the scenes.

I provided Hatton with fifteen statutory declarations detailing my knowledge and experience of corruption, mismanagement and sexual harassment during my police career.

Another member of our little group with Mr Arthur King.  He had been kidnapped in the seventies when he was supporting Juanita Nielsen and others in trying to save the buildings of Kings Cross against developers.  He was luckier than Juanita, he turned up again and besides all his trauma he put himself in the firing line again and supported Hatton about Police Corruption.  Arthur King is a real hero.

My son Hayes was born at 26 weeks.  I had been under immense stress in the witness box for six days at the Wood Royal Commission into Police Corruption within the NSW Police Force.  Even though they had lots of officers caught on film, I was still cross examined for days despite my obvious poor health.  Their legal team kept arguing that there were just a couple of bad apples and not systemic corruption within the New South Wales Police Force.  I finally walked out during cross examination as premature labour had started.  Hayes was only one kilo at birth and spent eighteen days on life support and three months on oxygen in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Whistleblowers Australia complained to Wood how the stress of giving evidence alone was so much, but being pregnant and doing the two days in the box as expected was enough for any person.  What happened next and was not expected, that I was cross examined for four days by a succession of six barristers who were representing the police I had named in my evidence.

Each barrister was permitted by Judge Urquhart to cross-examine me extensively and repetitively on a wide range of material that was not relevant to their client.  The most common question was, how long since I had drunk alcohol, which meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous did I go to?  As was pointed out on numerous occasions, I was sober, (Still am – over 28 years now) and everything I was saying about their client was true.  They were not arguing the corruption, just trying to discredit me as a witness.

The cross-examination appeared to be co-ordinated between the different Barristers in an attempt to break down my credibility and me.  They all knew that as a result of my whistleblowing I had previously suffered a major depressive illness and an early miscarriage.

As a direct result of my six days in the box at the Royal Commission I developed pneumonia and subsequently septicaemia, going into labour at 26 weeks.  Hayes had a 60% chance of survival.  He has an intellectual disability and autism today.  Hayes needs to have one on one care, and have a carer with him at all times.  He has no concept of time or money.  He loves to watch the Wiggles on television and go for walks with his dog Sugarplum.

Whistleblowers Australia states, “Even today after the success of the Fitzgerald and Wood Royal Commissions, police whistleblowers continue to be harassed, victimised and branded by the guilty as mentally defective. Honest cops still fall victim to payback allegations that are nearly always more strenuously investigated by (Internal Affairs) branches than the original complaint.” Whistleblowing can be a dangerous business.

Tony Laurer – “I don’t ever claim to be perfect” – especially in regards to Whistleblowers.  A truer statement was never uttered.

When I complained about Roger Rogerson and other corruption, I was told by the then Assistant Commissioner Tony Lauer, Head of Professional Responsibility that I didn’t know what a Detective was.  I heard for the first time the word whistleblower used and I took a deep breath and asked him what that was, he said, “Police who dob in other Police”.

For my efforts I got put in an old hat factory with Michael Drury.  He had already upset Roger and been shot for his troubles.  I started to feel that by putting us both together was a way to save Roger some petrol money.

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