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Anna Bligh accused of misleading Parliament over CMC consulation on Bob Atkinson contract renewal Robyn Ironside

From: The Courier-Mail June 17, 2010 12:17PM
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/anna-bligh-accused-of-misl...

PREMIER Anna Bligh may have misled State Parliament by claiming the CMC chairman was consulted about the decision to renew Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson’s contract.

The government announced in February it would extend Mr Atkinson’s contract by three years, after his current deal expired at the end of October.

Last week, Ms Bligh said Police Minister Neil Roberts sought Mr Moynihan’s views on the proposed appointment and secured his agreement “before putting it forward and making any decision or announcement on it”.
But today Mr Moynihan told a press conference he was only informed shortly before the announcement and said he had “no comment”.

“In other words, the announcement was made and later I was consulted,” he said.

The admission has sparked accusations the Premier misled Parliament.
Ms Bligh is in Gayndah today for the funeral of Sapper Jacob Moerland.
Comment is being sought.
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Mulrunji death: CMC gives police commissioner Bob Atkinson 14 days to take action Robyn Ironside From: The Courier-Mail June 17, 2010 9:49AM
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/mulrunji-death-cmc-gives-p...

POLICE Commissioner Bob Atkinson has been given 14 days to report back to the CMC on what action he will take against six officers over the 2004 death in custody of Cameron Doomadgee, aka Mulrunji.

The crime watchdog has recommended disciplinary action be taken against six officers involved in the two police investigations.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), which been reviewing the police handling of Cameron Doomadgee's death at the island's watchhouse in 2004, handed down its report on Thursday.

Mr Doomadgee died from massive internal injuries following his arrest for public drunkenness. His death and concerns of a police cover-up sparked a riot on the island that saw its police station and officers' quarters burned down.

CMC chairman Martin Moynihan said while there was insufficient evidence to support criminal charges, ``the conduct of four officers involved in the original police investigation is serious enough to warrant recommending consideration of disciplinary proceedings for misconduct''.

The CMC also recommended the Queensland Police Service (QPS) consider disciplinary proceedings against members of the internal investigation team.

``I am now looking to the Police Commissioner (Bob Atkinson) to acknowledge the flawed and unacceptable conduct of the officers involved in both the initial police investigation and the QPS review,'' Mr Moynihan said in a statement.

``He must step up, take strong, decisive action and restore the confidence of the public, and its own members, in the police service.''

Mr Moynihan said that if the CMC was not satisfied with Mr Atkinson's decision, it would commence disciplinary proceedings itself through the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

He said the police investigations were characterised by double standards, and ``an unwillingness to publicly acknowledge failings on the part of the police''.

This culture, he said, had been tolerated by Mr Atkinson, and must now be stamped out.

``The police commissioner must now demonstrate to his officers that this conduct is not acceptable and will no longer be tolerated,'' he said. pe``He must rid the service of these destructive aspects of the police culture.''

He said the people of Palm Island had deserved a thorough and impartial police investigation and a rigorous and independent internal police review when the initial investigation was criticised by the acting state coroner, but received neither.

Ahead of the report's release, the Queensland Police Union attacked the CMC's own handling of the case.

Union president Ian Leavers said Mr Atkinson wrote to the CMC on November 24, 2004 offering to surrender full control of the Doomadgee investigation.

``How can the CMC credibly critique the work of the police involved in the investigations when they declined the opportunity to conduct the investigation themselves,'' he said in a statement.

``The CMC had the authority, power and the moral obligation to take over this investigation and they couldn't be bothered.

``Now, almost six years after the death, the CMC want to shift the blame to police instead of accepting the responsibility lies squarely at their feet.''

Mr Leavers said that if the report concluded there was wrongdoing by police, the CMC should ultimately be held responsible.

Last month, it was announced that Queensland police would no longer lead investigations into deaths in custody in line with a recommendation from Coroner Brian Hine.

Mr Hine said the CMC should take over responsibility for such investigations, after he found police had colluded to protect one of their own in the Doomadgee case.

The coroner said he could not definitively say if the injuries that killed Mr Doomadgee were deliberately or accidentally inflicted in a scuffle with arresting officer Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley.

But he said there was evidence that other police had colluded to protect Sen Sgt Hurley.

That collusion included a tip-off that an Aboriginal witness had told of Sen Sgt Hurley punching Mr Doomadgee several times as he lay on the watchhouse floor.

Mr Doomadgee was arrested for drunkenness and died at the Palm Island watchhouse on November 19, 2004 after struggling with Sen Sgt Hurley.

Sen Sgt Hurley was acquitted of a charge of manslaughter by a Townsville jury in 2007.

The Queensland Police Service has taken the unusual step of releasing its response to the report on Facebook and YouTube.

with AAP
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.....The CMC has set out the date at which it says it took over in the report.

CMC accused of refusing police request to investigate Mulrunji Palm Island death in custody Robyn Ironside From: The Courier-Mail June 17, 2010 8:01AM
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/cmc-accused-of-refusing-po...

THE Crime and Misconduct Commission has been accused of shirking its duties - by refusing to take over the police investigation into the Palm Island death in custody.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the Commissioner Bob Atkinson wrote to the CMC on November 24, 2004 asking the police watchdog to take over the investigation into the death of Aboriginal man Mulrunji Doomadgee five days earlier.

The CMC refused, and two days later Palm Island locals rioted, burning down the police station and courthouse.

The subsequent police investigation is expected to be broadly criticised as biased in today’s release of the CMC’s report on the death in custody.

But Mr Leavers said as the overviewing authority, the CMC should be held to account for failing to take responsibility for investigating the death.

``The CMC could have, and many have said should have, taken over the death in custody investigation the moment there were allegations of improper conduct,'' Mr Leavers said.

``It concerns me greatly that leaked reports point to grave criticism of the investigation that police carried out, yet it was the CMC who had the power to take over the investigation at any time once there was an allegation of wrong doing by an officer.''

Queensland Council of Civil Liberties vice-president Terry O'Gorman said the police union had a valid point.

``This was the first time in Queensland history a police station and a courthouse were burnt to the ground. It screamed out fo independent CMC monitoring,'' Mr O'Gorman said.

``The CMC has many questions to answer and thse questions go to the core of the CMC's role in the matter.''

Mr Leavers said the CMC seemed to consider its investigators ``untouchable''.

``If they argue that there was serious misconduct by police by extension there must at the very least be an established case of dereliction of duty by CMC officers,'' he said.

The report will be tabled in state parliament this morning.

The Queensland Police Service has declined to comment on the report, but this morning Commissioner Atkinson has told the ABC the whole investigation into the death in custody could have been handled better by everyone, including the CMC.

“I think there’s room for improvement there,’’ Mr Atkinson said.
Palm Island Mayor Alf Lacey said he believed police involved in the investigation should be charged.

“I think a simple slap over the knuckles isn’t good enough. I think they need to be charged,” Mr Lacey said.

“Someone was taken into custody and died in custody. The people of Palm Island and the people of Queensland want to know what happened.”
He said if the report did not go as far as recommending the officers be charged, it had “fallen short”.

“It will be a case of the people who protect us, have failed us.”

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Police chief Bob Atkinson warns he might miss CMC deadline From: AAP June 17, 2010 5:45PM
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/police-chief-bob-atkinson-wa...

THE Queensland police chief has vowed to try to meet a 14-day deadline to advise what action will be taken against six senior police over the flawed investigation of the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee.

But Bob Atkinson said today that might not be possible, citing another Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation following the findings of a coronial inquest last month that could lead to more serious charges.

The state's anti-corruption agency found that Mr Atkinson “tolerated” a culture of cover-up in the 10,000-strong force and must be held accountable for deeply flawed investigations into the 2004 death in custody of the Palm Islander.

The CMC report is scathing of Mr Atkinson and warns that standards in the police have slipped dramatically, invoking comparison with those that allowed corruption to flourish in the pre-Fitzgerald era.

Releasing the bombshell report this morning, CMC chairman Martin Moynihan ramped up pressure on Mr Atkinson by demanding that he advise within 14 days what action he will take against six senior police.

Mr Atkinson said he'd “always acknowledged that the investigation into the death of Mr Doomadgee could have been handled better”.

But there were no systemic issues that needed cleaning up, he said.

He also said he believed the officers who reviewed the initial investigation had not knowingly or intentionally engaged in a cover-up.

The Queensland Police Union immediately attacked the CMC's findings, calling them “deficient and without credit” because they did not deal with the “crucial error” the CMC made by not taking over the investigation early on.
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