The Dead Roo

In the light of the incarceration of Dr. Haneef there are many commentators lamenting the end of some of the basic principles of our legal system such as the presumption of innocence and the separation of powers. I write the following from within the ranks of this commentariate.

In Queensland however there is another refraction of the legal system unfolding as I write, with the Qld. Police Union providing the media with information about last nights killing of a police officer in Brisbane, outside the framework of the police media unit and before there has been any investigation into the incident. “THE man alleged to have shot dead a Brisbane police officer later shot himself in the head, Queensland’s police union said this afternoon.”
From the Courier Mail

I am surprised and delighted that so many Australian lawyers are speaking out about the federal government’s intervention into Dr. Haneef’s situation and sticking up for his legal team. I have often been cynical about lawyers because of their complicity in a legal system which seems dysfunctional to me. However whatever the illusions of the law are, there now seems to be many legal practitioners who hold firm to the letter and spirit of the law and have not remained silent in the face of the government’s undoing of their professional sacred cows.
In particular I heap praise upon Dr. Haneef’s barrister, Steven Keim who has chosen to provide the media with the transcript of one of his client’s police interviews and perhaps more praiseworthy he has not only admitted to this but has stood up to the federal government, demanding that his actions were appropriate given the federal police and the immigration department releasing unfounded, circumstantial and it would seem exaggerated information to the media about his client. Keim argues that his action is a direct response to the federal police and federal government’s politicisation and sensationalisation of his client’s incarceration.

My earlier post “Will Australia invade Poland before the federal election?” looks at two recent cases of the federal government intervening in and challenging decisions made by courts; Dr. Haneef and the Pine Gap peace protesters. Yesterday the federal government has similarly announced it will be appealing against the decision of a Melbourne court to grant bail to two men accused of supporting Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers. There is indeed a pattern forming.

Well, so far my comments have not strayed beyond what many are saying regarding breaches of separation of powers and the politicisation of Dr. Haneef. However now I would like to connect this dangerous development in our political/legal system with another that is unfolding as we speak in Queensland with the Queensland Police Union’s domination of information (and perspective) following the murder of an officer in Brisbane last night. Normally I would not comment on the Police Union taking a lead role during the death of one of their members, but these are no ordinary times.

The death of Mulrunji Doomadgee on the floor of the Palm Island watch house and the subsequent political furore in Queensland, Australia and indeed around the world leading up to the Charging of Snr. Sgt. Chris Hurley for manslaughter of Mulrunji has done two things to the Queensland police force. Firstly it has been a disaster for the force’s public relations and secondly it has concretised the police force in their support of their union as it took a lead role in criticising the Qld. Coroner’s report into Mulrunji’s death and the Queensland government, especially in the media which even lead to a union official, a serving officer being charged with contempt of court for his media criticism. Despite Hurley being found not guilty the police still have a serious public relations problem which the police union has been addressing with an aggressive two pronged media campaign. One prong is for an increase in Qld. Police wages to equal police salaries in other states. (A demand which I support). But the other prong of the union’s campaign has been a simple public relations campaign seeking to solicit the emotional support from the people of Queensland, or at least those who they think matter. This Youtube video produced by the police union is an ad that has also appearing on television in Queensland.

Because all of this is the context of last nights killing of an officer it is most dangerous that the police union is handling the media on this issue including providing police details of what happened. The police force have a media unit whose purpose, like the force in general, is to serve the people of Queensland and it works within a command and accountability structure. The police union’s purpose is to serve the interest of it’s members, is elected by its members and has no accountability structure, as such it is an inappropriate agency to be speaking on behalf of the police to the media about operational, not industrial issues.

The Federal police’s involvement in the media and the Queensland police Union’s media activities place police officers above and outside of the authority and protocols of the court and justice system. What if Haneef is innocent? In light of a highly politicised, prejudiced and secret agenda of the Federal police, how will we ever know if he is innocent? What if the policeman last night was killed in self defense? I am not at all saying that he was, What if police procedure was not followed and someone ordered the officer into danger? what happened to the gunman? but how would we know while the police themselves control both the investigation into the matter and the union, representing the officers involved, is feeding information to the media.

The court system and the subjugation of its officers including police and lawyers to protocols is the traditional way to determine a persons guilt or innocence of unlawful behavior. However today it seems that governments and the police are more than prepared to abandon the democratic tradition, it seems for purely political purposes - in the federal government’s case to build an election platform and in the case of the Qld police to redeem their sullied reputation in the community.

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