Robert Falconer the Western Australian Police Commissioner 1992 to 1998

Victoria police force faces corruption claim

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1074663.htm

Victoria police force faces corruption claim

The World Today - Friday, 26 March , 2004  12:44:58

Reporter: Rafael Epstein

HAMISH ROBERTSON: There've been renewed calls today for a permanent independent watchdog for Victoria's Police Force. The investigators looking into Melbourne's underworld killings have had to make major operational changes to keep their taskforce clear of a new corruption inquiry revealed this morning.
A senior officer, in charge of the day-to-day running of the police unit that conducts most of the force's phone surveillance, was recently suspended on suspicion of selling sensitive information.
As Rafael Epstein reports one of the state's former senior policeman says a new watchdog is needed.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: It's only an investigation; no charges have been laid, but it's a claim of corruption that has affected one of the state's most important inquiries. The Australian newspaper reported two officers have been suspended. They're suspected of selling sensitive information to a man associated with Melbourne's underworld.
The ABC was told one of the officers suspended is a shift supervisor within the Victoria Police Special Projects unit, the unit with primary responsibility for police phone surveillance. 
The phone taps requested and used by Taskforce Purana, who are investigating potential underworld victims and suspects, have been moved to the other phone tap unit, which operates out of the Police Ethical Standards Department. 
In a brief statement issued this morning, Victoria's Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland claimed there is no such allegation linking the corruption inquiry to the taskforce looking into the spate of killings, called Taskforce Purana.
But there is another link, continually denied by police. Many in Melbourne suspect the investigation into underworld executions, run by Taskforce Purana, will eventually cross over with taskforce Ceja: a major investigation into significant corruption in the former drug squad.
BOB FALCONER: I've gone on the record some time ago. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon in the last few days. I believe that Victoria should establish a Crime and Corruption Commission, that's a joint commission, which could in effect be looking at the matters that the Ceja taskforce is looking at now, independently of the force, admittedly, and the Purana taskforce.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Former Victorian Assistant Commissioner Bob Falconer was head of the West Australian Police Force.
BOB FALCONER: And if there is, if there is, and I don't know, if there is any linkage between corrupt police, or former police, and the criminal underworld in regard to these shootings and other matters, well let that well-funded, independent body which I believe the Government would give authority and power to that they won't give to 10,000 police in this state – let them do that.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Victoria police say that's unnecessary. They point to their successes. Taskforce Purana, looking into 23 underworld murders, the most recent on Tuesday, and with 8 executions last year, has charged 3 men for their alleged involvement.
Taskforce Ceja, looking into the former drug squad and related corruption, has seen two former detectives jailed, and another 12 have been charged.
But Bob Falconer told ABC Radio 774 in Melbourne, when he headed similar investigations, he too resisted new corruption fighting bodies. 
BOB FALCONER: I've got to admit, that when I was the Assistant Commissioner of Crime here, and prior to that, the Assistant Commissioner of Internal Investigations, I believe that we could capture and deal with our own, and interestingly enough, in crime commissions that were established in other places of this country, most of their investigators are former police, or police seconded in to those entities. 
But what's important is the total independence, and the funding, the ombudsman indeed. Look, the ombudsmen have heavy workloads, and I think police generally, senior police and operational police – and I used to be like this – have an inherent resistance to outsiders coming into their patch, or the inference that they can't do it. It's about pride. 
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: The State Police Ombudsman has requested extra powers from the State Labor Government, saying it could be as powerful and effective as the New South Wales Police Integrity Commission.

Brian Bull (Born 1933)

Brian Bull  Western Australian Police Commissioner: 1 March 1985 to 19 June 1994
Brian Bull was WA born and bred; he became a police cadet in 1949. He served in the metropolitan area in his early years and moved to the CIB in the 1960. Mr Bull was in charge of the Fraud Squad when promoted to Inspector in 1984. In the same year, he was successively promoted to Chief Superintendent and Assistant Commissioner and then became Commissioner on March 1, 1985. He obtained Tertiary qualifications before gaining commissioned rank. As Commissioner, he responded to the changed circumstances of the day by instituting a range of community policing initiatives, introducing merit-based promotion and expanding training and education for police officers. 
During his term as Commissioner, the Police Force grew rapidly and the number of specialised branches and sections created to deal with ever-changing and more complex patterns of criminal behaviour increased. Before retirement, Brian Bull put in place mechanisms for truly large-scale reforms.

Robert Falconer

Robert Falconer Western Australian Police Commissioner 20 June 1994 to 20 June 1999

Commissioner Falconer was of Scottish birth and joined the Victorian police in 1963. He had gained very varied experience in practical policing work and was Deputy Commissioner in charge of operations when he was appointed to the WA position. Robert Falconer was the first person without any West Australian career background to be gain the office since Matthew Smith in 1871. There is little doubt that from day one Mr Falconer had a mandate for sweeping institutional change.
He instituted the Delta Reform programme, which may be likened to a third managerial revolution in the history of WA policing. Some traditional branches were rationalised or even abolished, with widely differing outcomes. The Police Force was renamed the Western Australia Police Service. Opinion among WA police officers of the time was divided in terms of the success of the changes; few would have denied that radical reforms were necessary.

Barry Eldon Matthews

Barry Eldon Matthews Western Australian Police Commissioner from 21 June 1999 till 20 June 2004

Barry Matthews was a career police officer from New Zealand who, after 30 years of service, rose to the rank of Deputy Commissioner. He obtained high academic qualifications and eventually became a Bachelor of Laws. Despite this, he remained with the police after being admitted as a barrister and solicitor. Barry Matthews was the first West Australian Chief of Police to be appointed directly from overseas since 1867.

During his time in office in WA, Mr Matthews continued with a steady and more deliberate process of reform implementation. As has often been the case in the past, there were differences of opinion with the political wing of Government over the independent of his office. Robust discussion over the issues attracted considerable media attention. The most important event of the Matthews stewardship was a Police Royal Commission that delivered its findings in early 2004. While past abuses of position and trust were identified in some areas, especially in crime detection, the findings where not as damaging as might have been expected. Many serving officers are of the opinion that the reform programme had already resolved some key problems.

How the west was a state where police ran wild

By Andrew Rule
June 15 2002

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/06/14/1023864347078.html

For a real-life crime, the Perth Mint gold swindle plays like a classic caper movie, beginning with the three dashing brothers accused of it: a former Vietnam SAS commando, a pilot and an abalone diver.

These were the Mickelberg brothers, Ray, Brian and Peter: resourceful, fit, disciplined and with a taste for adventure.

The caper - a brilliant heist of gold bars, worth $650,000 in 1982 - was carried out with military precision, no violence, no personal victim and few clues, if any. So few clues that the perpetrators might have seemed unlikely to be caught and convicted by conventional police methods.

Which is where the perpetrators, whoever they were, got it wrong. In Western Australia in 1982, "conventional police methods" belonged only in instruction manuals. Perth was a Wild West town where some lawmen made up the rules as they went along, unhindered by notions that evidence should be gathered impartially to ensure a fair trial.

It is a view shared by Bob Falconer who became Western Australia's police chief in 1994 with a brief to clean up Perth's cowboy cops - and who will return there soon to give evidence at a royal commission that will probe the force he left in 1999. Falconer says he will have plenty to tell "with the protection and privilege of the royal commission".

All of which supports a view that a dark side of police work, exposed and partly eradicated in the eastern states by the 1980s, went unchecked in the west. "Bricking" was one example - meaning the fabrication of evidence and false "verbal" confessions that, even if denied and unsigned by those tough enough to resist "flogging" during interrogation, were sworn by police to be true.

Bashing, fabricating confessions, planting evidence and perjury was an easy way to put accused people behind bars: what is known in the trade as "noble cause corruption", a variation on the theme that the ends justify the means.

The late Don Hancock, who led the controversial investigation that jailed the Mickelbergs, was almost certainly an exponent of "noble cause corruption" - and, cynics might hint, not-so-noble corruption too, given his unexplained wealth.

The tough detective chief's defenders lost face this week when a one-time colleague, Tony Lewandowski, now retired and ill, admitted that he and Hancock, convinced of the Mickelbergs' guilt, had fabricated the case against them. This including stripping and bashing the youngest brother, Peter, at a suburban police station - precisely as the Mickelbergs and their supporters had claimed for 20 years.

Many, including the Mickelbergs, are surprised Lewandowski has blown the whistle on his old boss; few were shocked by his claims about the man dubbed "the Silver Fox".

Even before Hancock (and a friend, Lou Lewis) was killed by a car bomb in Perth last September, his reputation had been clouded. The violent death hasn't helped - it was allegedly set up by a bikie gang because one of its members was shot dead by a mystery sniper after an argument at Hancock's hotel, near Kalgoorlie, the previous year.

The case became notorious after Hancock fled several hundred kilometres to Perth after the shooting, consulted a prominent criminal lawyer, and was unhelpful to detectives. Even in retirement, Hancock behaved like a man who thought he was above the law - perhaps because, while in the force, he had been exactly that.

The Mickelbergs have protested since 1983 that Hancock and his crew "stitched" them up with fake confessions and evidence, notably a fingerprint conveniently found on a fraudulent bank cheque used to pay the mint for gold. The case against their conviction has so far spawned two controversial books by Perth investigative journalist Avon Lovell, the first of which (The Mickelberg Stitch) was banned from sale and drew defamation actions by several police, backed by their union. Hancock and others scored cash settlements from the book's distributor and retailers.

Now the boot is on the other foot. The Mickelbergs yesterday hoped to stitch up a deal of their own with a commercial television network - a hefty fee in exchange for their exclusive story. But Ray, Vietnam veteran, elder brother and spokesman, couldn't resist the odd angry shot about the case that has wrecked his family.

Originally sentenced to 20 years, he served a little more than eight before being released - a concession he reads as a sign the authorities were uneasy about the conviction.

"I got out of jail with $40 to my name," he told The Age bitterly. "I lost everything - my wife, my family, the lot. It's a hick state and the police here are a cunning, conniving lot of arseholes. They've killed, raped, handled drugs, anything they like."

His aged parents are still alive, but his brother Brian was killed in a light aircraft crash in 1986 after being released from jail on appeal. Another brother, Graeme, an army officer not implicated in the case, has stood by his brothers throughout.

When Hancock was killed, the Mickelbergs thought any chance of the truth about the "stitch up" went with him. Ironically the opposite was true, Mickelberg says - Hancock's death allowed Lewandowski to tell the truth.

Perhaps Lewandowski's conscience had pricked him. Mickelberg doesn't think so. He suggests his old foe is spooked by rumours that other police officers have already "rolled over" for the forthcoming royal commission in exchange for immunity. Lewandowski might want to put in his version of events before it is too late.

Either way, 20 years on, the great gold swindle has been an albatross around the necks of the main players. Whoever was holding the gold returned it anonymously to a television station in 1989, by which time it was worth more than a million dollars.

Hancock is dead, his memory disgraced. Lewandowski is ill, his reputation in tatters. The surviving Mickelbergs, once prosperous abalone divers and pilots who drove Porsches, are broken and bitter men trying to salvage something from the wreckage of their lives. Even Avon Lovell, the journalist who embraced the Mickelberg cause, has spent years and too much money on a quixotic fight for justice.

So far, all that has been proved is that crime doesn't pay. Except the lawyers.

New WA Police Commissioner

http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s29466.htm

AM Archive - Thursday, 17 June , 1999  00:00:00

Reporter: Lisa Stingel

Senior police in Western Australia have been snubbed in the search to find a new Police Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioner of the New Zealand Police Force, Barry Matthews, has been appointed to the job ahead of several high profile local candidates. Lisa Stingel reports.

REPORTER: When Bob Falconer was appointed as Western Australian Police Commissioner five years ago, there were rumblings about why a Victorian was appointed. Now the Court government has found a suitable candidate even further afield, despite a number of local applicants. It was not the news that the police union was looking for. Union president, Michael Dean.

MICHAEL DEAN: I wouldn't deny it for a second. Yes, we were looking for a home-grown Commissioner. But that wasn't the case in the end. Obviously the people that missed out are going to have to re-evaluate where they're going. The feedback from them, from a large number of them is that that they'll re-evaluate their careers and either retire or look for positions elsewhere.

REPORTER: And rank and file police officers, are they disappointed about the decision?

MICHAEL DEAN: Many of the middle ranks expressed regret over it. All policemen aspire to become Commissioner and particularly commissioners of their own home states.

REPORTER: The management style of outgoing Commissioner, Bob Falconer, has long been a source of tension for officers. It was Mr Falconer's handling of officers under investigation by the Anti-corruption Commission which led officers to take industrial action for the first time in the history of the service. The new Commissioner is also described as having an autocratic style. But the union's Michael Dean says he'll get more out of the officers with a softer approach.

MICHAEL DEAN: We believe a consultative process is far more appropriate for the late nineteen nineties. And we believe that he will get far more out of these men by trying to work with them and encouraging them to adopt his strategies. Without the men's hearts being in it, you'll never get the full co-operation you really need.

REPORTER: Some of the issues facing the new Commissioner, Barry Matthews, are growing crime rates and ten unsolved murders. But first there is the local hostility to deal with.

BARRY MATTHEWS: Oh I think that's very understandable. I think particularly in terms of the union. That is a thing that unions tend to do, to push local people. I knew that, when I took on the job, I'm confident that it will be an issue. I am also confident that I will address it. At the end of the day their people will judge me on my performance and that will take some time to be convincing.

COMPERE: Western Australia's new Police Commissioner, Barry Matthews.

WA Police Commissioner in row over deputy

Robert Falconer the Western Australian Police Commissioner 1992 to 1998

September 2, 1996

 A Publisher Extra Newspaper

The Age from Melbourne, Victoria · Page 7

Publication:The Age i Location: Melbourne, Victoria 

Issue Date: Monday, September 2, 1996 Page 7

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/122865411/

Two years after moving from the number two position In the Victoria Police to the top police job in Western Australia, the police commissioner, Mr Bob Falconer, is at the centre of a storm involving his former deputy and a diamond theft inquiry.

Mr Falconer won the WA job in 1994, breaking a tradition of recruitment from Inside and beating the favored local contender, Mr Les Ayton, who then became deputy commissioner. Mr Ayton, 55, resigned last month after 30 years' service. Last year, Argyle Diamonds called in a Victorian private company, Forensic Behavioural Investigative Services, to report on botched police investigations of diamond thefts.

The company is run by Mr Falconer's former boss, the former Victorian police commissioner Mr Kel Glare, and a former Victorian detective sergeant, Mr Claude Minisini. The company also has a $400 an hour contract with the WA Police to advise on suspected criminal activity. , Argyle claimed it had lost diamonds worth about $50 million.

 Three police investigations were held over six years, but only the third yielded results. Earlier this year, a diamond dealer, Mr Lindsay Roddan, was jailed after being found guilty by a WA District Court jury of conspiring to steal diamonds.

His co-conspirator had already been sent to prison. He is Mr Barry Crlmmins, who spent IB years as a Victorian policeman before becoming senior security officer at Argyle. During the trial of Mr Rod-dan, the jury was told that one police inquiry into the thefts was halted when Sergeant Robin Thoy was ordered off the job by his superiors. ' - He was then transferred out of the CIB and back to uniform. Another Inquiry was headed by Detective Sergeant Jeffrey Noye.b 

WA Police Commissioner in row over deputy

Robert Falconer the Western Australian Police Commissioner 1992 to 1998

September 2, 1996

 A Publisher Extra Newspaper

The Age from Melbourne, Victoria · Page 7

Publication:The Age i Location: Melbourne, Victoria 

Issue Date: Monday, September 2, 1996 Page 7

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/122865411/

Two years after moving from the number two position In the Victoria Police to the top police job in Western Australia, the police commissioner, Mr Bob Falconer, is at the centre of a storm involving his former deputy and a diamond theft inquiry.

Mr Falconer won the WA job in 1994, breaking a tradition of recruitment from Inside and beating the favored local contender, Mr Les Ayton, who then became deputy commissioner. Mr Ayton, 55, resigned last month after 30 years' service. Last year, Argyle Diamonds called in a Victorian private company, Forensic Behavioural Investigative Services, to report on botched police investigations of diamond thefts.

The company is run by Mr Falconer's former boss, the former Victorian police commissioner Mr Kel Glare, and a former Victorian detective sergeant, Mr Claude Minisini. The company also has a $400 an hour contract with the WA Police to advise on suspected criminal activity. , Argyle claimed it had lost diamonds worth about $50 million.

 Three police investigations were held over six years, but only the third yielded results. Earlier this year, a diamond dealer, Mr Lindsay Roddan, was jailed after being found guilty by a WA District Court jury of conspiring to steal diamonds.

His co-conspirator had already been sent to prison. He is Mr Barry Crlmmins, who spent IB years as a Victorian policeman before becoming senior security officer at Argyle. During the trial of Mr Rod-dan, the jury was told that one police inquiry into the thefts was halted when Sergeant Robin Thoy was ordered off the job by his superiors. ' - He was then transferred out of the CIB and back to uniform. Another Inquiry was headed by Detective Sergeant Jeffrey Noye.

He has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, but has yet to be tried. After reading the FBIS report commissioned by Argyle, Mr Falconer called in the Federal Police to Investigate allegations of state police corruption. When Mr Ayton heard from the Federal Police that 11 allegations had been made against him in the FBIS report, he accused Mr Falconer of denying him basic fairness and justice.

The FBIS report has not been released. The police and Argyle say it is a private document commissioned by Argyle. Mr Falconer, who has taken a high profile since moving to WA, has advised Mr Ayton to lodge his complaints with the state ombudsman. ' ' ' '

Mr Ayton says there should be a police anti-corruption commission: vi The WA Government, facing an election early next year in which law and order is certain to be a big issue, has not taken any decisive action other than to deplore the continued sniping between Mr Falconer and his former deputy.

MONDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 1996 THE AGE A 7 New policy neglects long-term jobless, says Opposition WA police ctteff M 11 DfnUi ' for the placement of people with multiple barriers to employment, he said. As a first step In its shake-up of employment assistance, the Government advertised tenders this weekend for private organisations with expertise in case-management of the long-term unemployed. And in separate .newspaper advertisements, the Government called for interested parties and those likely to be affected by the new arrangements to submit their views by 27 ever, unemployed people will need to demonstrate their capacity to benefit from them by passing a test Senator Vanstone's spokesman said only a tiny proportion of unemployed people would have difficulty passing the test. Those who failed would be people whose problems were so serious they could not benefit from training, anyway. The spokesman said the Government was not giving up on difficult cases, but instead trying to deal with other problems first. The Federal Government's radical pollcle risked the future Of the long-term unemployed, the Opposition spokesman on employment, Mr Martin Ferguson, said yesterday. Mr Ferguson said the long-term unemployed could be denied training because of funding cuts and denied jobs because they lacked training. . "They will be in no man's . land, going nowhere fast," Mr Ferguson said. ; . . -. ;.. He said private agencies recruited by the Government to . match the jobless to vacancies were likely to avoid difficult, time-consuming clients in their enthusiasm for making profits. "They will wash their hands of the difficult, long-term unemployed," he said. "They will pick those that are already job-ready, the easy targets. That Is the problem with the new system." But a spokesman for the Employment Minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone, said the Government-would still direct most assistance to the long-term unemployed. "We will be offering approximately $10,000 By the end of next year, private recruitment companies and charities such as the Salvation Army will have the task of matching about 50 per cent of the unemployed to job vacancies on the Government's behalf, j - They will form part of a network of Employment Placement Enterprises.the largest of which will be government-owned. Enterprises will paid a fee for each client matched to a job. To be eligible for individual case management and entry into training programs, how EmptoyiDMit jl Assistance . A b iww a a i a Ci, im M c mi , i . dB I raM to to- 9 nt BMll. w ba M MMt M rTi.i-n "i"iiiM nftTi -tr? row, oyer depmty picture tony Mcdonough aa-J 1 vv ; i- it" .

By DUNCAN GRAHAM, Perth

 Two years after moving from the number two position In the Victoria Police to the top police job in Western Australia, the police commissioner, Mr Bob Falconer, is at the centre of a storm involving his former deputy and a diamond theft inquiry.

Mr Falconer won the WA job in 1994, breaking a tradition of recruitment from Inside and beating the favored local contender, Mr Les Ayton, who then became deputy commissioner. Mr Ayton, 55, resigned last month after 30 years' service. Last year, Argyle Diamonds called in a Victorian private company, Forensic Behavioural Investigative Services, to report on botched police investigations of diamond thefts.

The company is run by Mr Falconer's former boss, the former Victorian police commissioner Mr Kel Glare, and a former Victorian detective sergeant, Mr Claude Minisini. The company also has a $400 an hour contract with the WA Police to advise on suspected criminal activity. , Argyle claimed it had lost diamonds worth about $50 million.

 Three police investigations were held over six years, but only the third yielded results. Earlier this year, a diamond dealer, Mr Lindsay Roddan, was jailed after being found guilty by a WA District Court jury of conspiring to steal diamonds.

His co-conspirator had already been sent to prison. He is Mr Barry Crlmmins, who spent IB years as a Victorian policeman before becoming senior security officer at Argyle. During the trial of Mr Rod-dan, the jury was told that one police inquiry into the thefts was halted when Sergeant Robin Thoy was ordered off the job by his superiors. ' - He was then transferred out of the CIB and back to uniform. Another Inquiry was headed by Detective Sergeant Jeffrey Noye.

He has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, but has yet to be tried. After reading the FBIS report commissioned by Argyle, Mr Falconer called in the Federal Police to Investigate allegations of state police corruption. When Mr Ayton heard from the Federal Police that 11 allegations had been made against him in the FBIS report, he accused Mr Falconer of denying him basic fairness and justice.

The FBIS report has not been released. The police and Argyle say it is a private document commissioned by Argyle. Mr Falconer, who has taken a high profile since moving to WA, has advised Mr Ayton to lodge his complaints with the state ombudsman. ' ' ' '

Mr Ayton says there should be a police anti-corruption commission: vi The WA Government, facing an election early next year in which law and order is certain to be a big issue, has not taken any decisive action other than to deplore the continued sniping between Mr Falconer and his former deputy.

An ad in Saturdays Age. Call for inquiry on bogus sex abuse memories A researcher has called for a government inquiry into how Australian prosecutions for child abuse were launched based on discredited psychological theories. The author and journalist Richard Guilliatt said hysteria about satanic ritual abuse of children over the past 10 years had produced some of the biggest prosecution cases in Australia. Mr Guilliatt said prosecutions were based on either the repressed memories of adults who under therapy recalled childhood abuse, or on the evidence of children gathered using suggestive techniques discredited in the United States. "The bottom line is that people were being thrown . in jail, people were committing suicide," Mr Guilliatt said. "That to me is quite disturbing when you consider that the psychological theory that was at the heart of the case against them was really the subject- of quite a lot of controversy. , "One of the things that's happening now is that police and prosecutors are beginning' to realise that they can't just accept the repressed memory of someone at face value, which is what they were doing." Mr Guilliatt said prosecutors only last week dropped a case where a teenage girl accused her parents and 71 -year-old grandmother of sexual abuse. The parents had lost custody of their other three children for more than two years and were considering suing the Department of Community Services. Mr Guilliatt examines ritual abuse and repressed memory court cases in his book, Talk of the Devil, published this week. He said that, in general, prosecution cases dealing with ritual abuse had little or no corroborating physical evidence. "There certainly should be some kind of government inquiry into the way that sexual assault services have been set up and allowed to run." "The services in New South Wales for instance have been spreading absolutely bizarre theories about satanic cults, brainwashing and mind control, lust completely ill-conceived ideas which have no factual basis at all (and) which were debunked years ago in the United States." AAP Private hospitals hit back on premiums Lindsay Hatcher holds a jaw of an extinct short-nosed kangaroo. Other finds include a hippo-like marsupial, Tasmanian tigers, marsupial lions and other lost species. Caver unearths the tomb of lost species tals has been consistently less than increases' in the CPI," Mr Chalmers said. ' "Total health insurance benefits paid to private hospitals have Increased by 8 per cent the last 12 months, but more than half of this increase is due to the transfer of insured ': patients from the public to the ' private hospital system." The Australian Health Insurance Association last week blamed rising private hospital costs and doctors' fees for the increases in premiums that , have embarrassed the Federal Government by virtually cancelling out the tax concessions offered in the Budget. The Australian Medical Association disputed the association's claim, calling for deregulation of the health insurance market By KAREN MIDOLETON, ' Canberra ,' ',, ,Jl ; The Australian Private Hospitals Association yesterday hit back at claims by the health insurance industry that high hospital charges were partly to blame for the rise in insurance premiums. The association's executive director, Mr Ian Chalmers, said it was the drop-out rate of young and healthy people from ' health funds that was the real cause of the rising consumer cost of private health. He said the average daily benefits the health funds paid to private hospitals had increased by only 3 per cent In the year to the end of June, one percentage point less man the annual inflation rate. "In fact, over the last two years the increase in average benefits paid to private hospi By DUNCAN GRAHAM,' ' ' Perth Unlike most amateur cavers, high school teacher Mr Lindsay Hatcher knows his bones. So while exploring a limestone cave near Margaret River, about 300 kilometres south of Perth, he noticed something his fellow speleologists had Ignored since the cave was discovered In 1973. He was sitting recovering from the nausea of breathing carbon dioxide generated by water running through humus and rock, when he saw a colleague playing with something round. An Intact skulL And "underfoot, 'bones. "Buckets of them," he said. "It was the best and biggest site of them alL" Leg bones of all shape and sizes, jaws and teeth. The cave, the size of half a football field, was a giant ossuary. How big and how Important has only now been realised after further exploration last month by a South Australian palaeontologist, Mr Gavin Prides ux. The cave is more like a subterranean failed Noahfe Ark, with the fossilised remains of thousands of animals from 35 species including an entirely ' new genus of extinct bettong (a small kangaroo-like animal that builds nests). The remains which are yet to be accurately dated but are believed to be up to 100,000 years old Include sygomaturus, a cow-sized marsupial built like a hippopotamus and with no known modern relative. There are marsupial lions, similar to leopards because they could climb trees, Tasmanian tigers and devils. Sharing the tomb are giant blunt-nosed browsing kangaroos' with faces more like koalas, and bettongs almost a metre solution' pipe about half a metre across which descends seven metres. Then there's a 50 metre squeeze-and-crawl tunnel to the cave. Mr Prldeaux said the bones had been preserved by layers of sediments. He said the animals had probably been driven to extinction by a combination of climate change and hunting when humans arrived about 50,000 years ago. About 5 per cent of the material In the cave has been brought to the surface for further study and to determine dates and climate changes. high, three times the size of . - todays animals, Birds also tumbled Into the trap, including genyornls, an emu-like creature. There were several hidden holes In the ground, though all but one are now sealed, Mr Prldeaux said after returning to Flinders University school of biological sciences. "It seems that these animals had been just bounding through the bush and bang, down they went. It's the best deposit of fossil marsupials in the western half of Australia." The one remaining hole Is a Colston to get $1.2m pension payments ImMv wMvS i plus a lifetime gold travel pass allowing the senator and his wife 25 first-class domestic air trips a year. Senator Colston is one of the five parliamentary trustees of the superannuation scheme, which was recently criticised for its extreme generosity to former parliamentarians. - The former Prime Minister Mr Paul Keating is believed to have become eligible for $2.7 million on his exit from . politics after the March election. . Since the publication of the superannuation details two weeks ago, the '. Treasurer, Mr Peter Costello, has indicated that the Government will ; review the parliamentary scheme to ensure it is fair. By KAREN MIDOLETON, Canberra The newly Independent senator who defected from the Labor Party and became Deputy President of the Senate . through coalition support is expected to receive $1.25 million in parliamentary pension payments when he retire. . The Inside Canberra newsletter, which recently analysed the superannuation payouts of prominent for' mer politicians, revealed that Senator' Mai Colston, from Queensland, would be well-rewarded for his 21 years as ' backbencher. Senator Colston left the Labor Party after it refused to support hint for the deputy presidency.. - Inside Canberra reported at the weekend that as well as the $16,500 increase In annual salary, the new job would add $3093 a year to Senator Col- ston's superannuation. - .. . - Senator Colston is now believed to be contributing $5563 a year to his superannuation, or 5.75 per cent of his annual salary of $96,751 because of his length of service.,,

 r .. The newsletter calculated his of-life benefit would be $58,000 greater as a result of having secured the second-highest Senate post Inside Canberra said Senator Colston's super-.' annuation payout would total $1,251 million to be taken In the form of an annual pension of $65,887 CHALLENGE BANK Home LeaoDi Plans Picture: JERRY GALEA Green thumbs volunteer to -rejuvenate parkland - - By TIM WINKLER, IMI II INI,. VV ft f)W lltillMMMIJvV lib A-v'-v a I v-LL i AW- ! ii-t i Plus flexible repayments i No fees on your personal banking 1 5 off your VISA Card rate 1 1 discount on your personal loans blunteert take part In the Spring Planting Festival In Heidelberg yesterday. i I 1 year fixed J I J discount rate f M WirW ItQaYWPfffV Only What better way to spend a sunny . Sunday afternoon than to match 1000 . trees with 1000 holes In piece of under-used parkland? About 60 volunteers yesterday put , thoughts about the tangled masses In their own backyards behind them as they helped kick off the Spring Planting Festival at Heidelberg. - .'X Gatherings of volunteers hell-bent on sticking growing twigs In the , ground also helped start the 10-week festival In locations from Puckapunyal ' to Leongatha to Boort . - A festival organiser, Ms Sara Mln-' chinton, of Greening Australia, said t, the festival had been conducted in Victoria over the past five years, but this yeari planting binge was expect- -ed to be the biggest ever." . v At Heidelberg, more than 60 people . , planted 1000 trees In parklands near ' tributary of the Yarra. ."The council were very keen to do a - - if ' .. Your Mimt branch! 5Matn9l.M31n Hllb . This Is Ideal this is the sort of thing they want to be doing," he said, . Areas to be revegetated Include Royal Park, Tikalara Park In Templestowe, Braeside Park In Dlngley, jells Park. In Glen VMiverley and sites around Pow-lett River. - ' The organiser matched labor donated by community groups with trees donated by councils, Melbourne Parks and Waterways and other organisations; Ms Mlnchtnton said. bit of planting, because people weren't using the park much and Its a way of rejuvenating the area," Ms Mlnchin-ton said. ,;.. ., . , , ; : Among the volunteer were about 20 Methodist Ladies College students ' and their friend. Their teacher, Mr Ian MacDonnetl, said the student had ' just formed a voluntary environmental group called Ecocare and had Immedl- ' atefy looked to the festival as an outlet for practical environmental action. ': 4WCtMKltd lMMrn St. IW22 RT7ChirciSI.W31444 MurlelU.lt)24 4CnimSt.747H) tttEknbrthSI WWMI1 J7I CtayKm M MUnSl7K4 . 4M rfeMfi Hw 4PM 111 " l CMM, M m MU ttrVUrS) W7J1TO 404 Hh S M7t m 1 5 CMC Plan 9ma 1M Wyndham Si frrWdl 1411 M2-OTI Iron ltd 4130 449 4W9I KrldaRd WIAIta TTPrariUkiSt mip4ZMS Cr MatphyalWd SH MSI tWa rut WMIJ4WJ Cbytaw SLKMaBaa ,Cli.W...rhr WK.) 

How the west was a state where police ran wild

By Andrew Rule
June 15 2002

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/06/14/1023864347078.html

For a real-life crime, the Perth Mint gold swindle plays like a classic caper movie, beginning with the three dashing brothers accused of it: a former Vietnam SAS commando, a pilot and an abalone diver.

These were the Mickelberg brothers, Ray, Brian and Peter: resourceful, fit, disciplined and with a taste for adventure.

The caper - a brilliant heist of gold bars, worth $650,000 in 1982 - was carried out with military precision, no violence, no personal victim and few clues, if any. So few clues that the perpetrators might have seemed unlikely to be caught and convicted by conventional police methods.

Which is where the perpetrators, whoever they were, got it wrong. In Western Australia in 1982, "conventional police methods" belonged only in instruction manuals. Perth was a Wild West town where some lawmen made up the rules as they went along, unhindered by notions that evidence should be gathered impartially to ensure a fair trial.

It is a view shared by Bob Falconer who became Western Australia's police chief in 1994 with a brief to clean up Perth's cowboy cops - and who will return there soon to give evidence at a royal commission that will probe the force he left in 1999. Falconer says he will have plenty to tell "with the protection and privilege of the royal commission".

All of which supports a view that a dark side of police work, exposed and partly eradicated in the eastern states by the 1980s, went unchecked in the west. "Bricking" was one example - meaning the fabrication of evidence and false "verbal" confessions that, even if denied and unsigned by those tough enough to resist "flogging" during interrogation, were sworn by police to be true.

Bashing, fabricating confessions, planting evidence and perjury was an easy way to put accused people behind bars: what is known in the trade as "noble cause corruption", a variation on the theme that the ends justify the means.

The late Don Hancock, who led the controversial investigation that jailed the Mickelbergs, was almost certainly an exponent of "noble cause corruption" - and, cynics might hint, not-so-noble corruption too, given his unexplained wealth.

The tough detective chief's defenders lost face this week when a one-time colleague, Tony Lewandowski, now retired and ill, admitted that he and Hancock, convinced of the Mickelbergs' guilt, had fabricated the case against them. This including stripping and bashing the youngest brother, Peter, at a suburban police station - precisely as the Mickelbergs and their supporters had claimed for 20 years.

Many, including the Mickelbergs, are surprised Lewandowski has blown the whistle on his old boss; few were shocked by his claims about the man dubbed "the Silver Fox".

Even before Hancock (and a friend, Lou Lewis) was killed by a car bomb in Perth last September, his reputation had been clouded. The violent death hasn't helped - it was allegedly set up by a bikie gang because one of its members was shot dead by a mystery sniper after an argument at Hancock's hotel, near Kalgoorlie, the previous year.

The case became notorious after Hancock fled several hundred kilometres to Perth after the shooting, consulted a prominent criminal lawyer, and was unhelpful to detectives. Even in retirement, Hancock behaved like a man who thought he was above the law - perhaps because, while in the force, he had been exactly that.

The Mickelbergs have protested since 1983 that Hancock and his crew "stitched" them up with fake confessions and evidence, notably a fingerprint conveniently found on a fraudulent bank cheque used to pay the mint for gold. The case against their conviction has so far spawned two controversial books by Perth investigative journalist Avon Lovell, the first of which (The Mickelberg Stitch) was banned from sale and drew defamation actions by several police, backed by their union. Hancock and others scored cash settlements from the book's distributor and retailers.

Now the boot is on the other foot. The Mickelbergs yesterday hoped to stitch up a deal of their own with a commercial television network - a hefty fee in exchange for their exclusive story. But Ray, Vietnam veteran, elder brother and spokesman, couldn't resist the odd angry shot about the case that has wrecked his family.

Originally sentenced to 20 years, he served a little more than eight before being released - a concession he reads as a sign the authorities were uneasy about the conviction.

"I got out of jail with $40 to my name," he told聽The Age聽bitterly. "I lost everything - my wife, my family, the lot. It's a hick state and the police here are a cunning, conniving lot of arseholes. They've killed, raped, handled drugs, anything they like."

His aged parents are still alive, but his brother Brian was killed in a light aircraft crash in 1986 after being released from jail on appeal. Another brother, Graeme, an army officer not implicated in the case, has stood by his brothers throughout.

When Hancock was killed, the Mickelbergs thought any chance of the truth about the "stitch up" went with him. Ironically the opposite was true, Mickelberg says - Hancock's death allowed Lewandowski to tell the truth.

Perhaps Lewandowski's conscience had pricked him. Mickelberg doesn't think so. He suggests his old foe is spooked by rumours that other police officers have already "rolled over" for the forthcoming royal commission in exchange for immunity. Lewandowski might want to put in his version of events before it is too late.

Either way, 20 years on, the great gold swindle has been an albatross around the necks of the main players. Whoever was holding the gold returned it anonymously to a television station in 1989, by which time it was worth more than a million dollars.

Hancock is dead, his memory disgraced. Lewandowski is ill, his reputation in tatters. The surviving Mickelbergs, once prosperous abalone divers and pilots who drove Porsches, are broken and bitter men trying to salvage something from the wreckage of their lives. Even Avon Lovell, the journalist who embraced the Mickelberg cause, has spent years and too much money on a quixotic fight for justice.

So far, all that has been proved is that crime doesn't pay. Except the lawyers.

New WA Police Commissioner

http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s29466.htm

AM Archive - Thursday, 17 June , 1999  00:00:00

Reporter: Lisa Stingel

Senior police in Western Australia have been snubbed in the search to find a new Police Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioner of the New Zealand Police Force, Barry Matthews, has been appointed to the job ahead of several high profile local candidates. Lisa Stingel reports.

REPORTER: When Bob Falconer was appointed as Western Australian Police Commissioner five years ago, there were rumblings about why a Victorian was appointed. Now the Court government has found a suitable candidate even further afield, despite a number of local applicants. It was not the news that the police union was looking for. Union president, Michael Dean.

MICHAEL DEAN: I wouldn't deny it for a second. Yes, we were looking for a home-grown Commissioner. But that wasn't the case in the end. Obviously the people that missed out are going to have to re-evaluate where they're going. The feedback from them, from a large number of them is that that they'll re-evaluate their careers and either retire or look for positions elsewhere.

REPORTER: And rank and file police officers, are they disappointed about the decision?

MICHAEL DEAN: Many of the middle ranks expressed regret over it. All policemen aspire to become Commissioner and particularly commissioners of their own home states.

REPORTER: The management style of outgoing Commissioner, Bob Falconer, has long been a source of tension for officers. It was Mr Falconer's handling of officers under investigation by the Anti-corruption Commission which led officers to take industrial action for the first time in the history of the service. The new Commissioner is also described as having an autocratic style. But the union's Michael Dean says he'll get more out of the officers with a softer approach.

MICHAEL DEAN: We believe a consultative process is far more appropriate for the late nineteen nineties. And we believe that he will get far more out of these men by trying to work with them and encouraging them to adopt his strategies. Without the men's hearts being in it, you'll never get the full co-operation you really need.

REPORTER: Some of the issues facing the new Commissioner, Barry Matthews, are growing crime rates and ten unsolved murders. But first there is the local hostility to deal with.

BARRY MATTHEWS: Oh I think that's very understandable. I think particularly in terms of the union. That is a thing that unions tend to do, to push local people. I knew that, when I took on the job, I'm confident that it will be an issue. I am also confident that I will address it. At the end of the day their people will judge me on my performance and that will take some time to be convincing.

COMPERE: Western Australia's new Police Commissioner, Barry Matthews.

CHAPTER 14 ARGYLE Diamonds

Investigation Into Police Corruption while Robert Falconer was the Western Australian Police Commissioner

http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/Royal+Commission+into+whether+there+has+been+any+corrupt+or+criminal+Conduct+by+Western+Australian+Police+officer+final+report+Volume+1+part+3/$FILE/WA+police+vol+1+part+3.pdf

CHAPTER 14 ARGYLE Diamonds

Investigation Into Police Corruption while Robert Falconer was the Western Australian Police Commissioner

http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/Royal+Commission+into+whether+there+has+been+any+corrupt+or+criminal+Conduct+by+Western+Australian+Police+officer+final+report+Volume+1+part+3/$FILE/WA+police+vol+1+part+3.pdf

14.1 INTRODUCTION

 In the early 1990s, the Western Australia Police Service (“WAPS”) investigated allegations as to the theft of diamonds from Argyle Diamonds Pty Ltd (“Argyle”). There were three investigations undertaken, the first two of which were terminated without any satisfactory result.

A third investigation resulted in charges being laid against three persons, who were ultimately convicted of participating in conspiracies to steal diamonds. From an early stage, allegations have been made that the failure of the first two investigations was a result of corruption within the Police Service.

The allegations centre on one of the principal suspects in all three investigations, Mr Lindsay Roddan. Roddan was one of those who were ultimately convicted. The essence of the allegations was that Roddan, who apparently had a variety of business interests, was said to have had associations with police officers, which he was able to exploit in order to ensure that he was not charged in relation to the first two investigations. It has been suggested that high-ranking police officers frustrated and limited those investigations in order corruptly to protect Roddan.

 In respect of the second investigation, it is alleged that the officer in charge, Senior Sergeant Jeffrey Noye, formed a corrupt relationship with Roddan, pursuant to which he concluded that investigation by exculpating Roddan of any involvement in the theft of diamonds.

The allegations regarding Noye became the subject of charges, including conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, that were preferred against him and Roddan. Those charges were the subject of a lengthy preliminary hearing that resulted in both men being committed for trial. However, the charges were discontinued by the Crown prior to the trial. This left at least the perception that there had not been a conclusive determination of the allegation that there was a corrupt relationship between Roddan and Noye.

There were also concerns expressed about the circumstances of the discontinuation of the charges brought against them. The allegations that senior officers had corruptly interfered with the first investigation, led by Senior Sergeant Robin Thoy, and that officers, in addition to Noye, were associates of Roddan, were referred to during the course of the preliminary hearing and at Roddan’s later trial with respect to the conspiracies to steal diamonds. Those proceedings could not, however, determine conclusively the allegations of corrupt interference.

 In order to deal with these allegations the then Commissioner of Police, Mr Robert Falconer, requested the assistance of the Australian Federal Police (“AFP”) in setting up a joint task force to investigate the claims. That task force was not able to investigate the allegations relating to Noye because charges against him were still pending at that time.

Notwithstanding that limitation, the task force produced a large and detailed report. It conducted extensive interviews, however, it could not compel witnesses and it was, to some extent, frustrated when a small number of former police officers refused to co-operate. When the task force report was made public, it contained recommendations with respect to individual police officers that were critical of their conduct.

Many of those individuals felt aggrieved at the recommendations and sought to challenge them. This has given rise to some doubt as to the accuracy and reliability of the report. Public disquiet regarding the allegations has persisted for many years and Royal Commission hearings offered the opportunity to conduct an open and thorough investigation of all of those allegations. Furthermore, a significant number of statements and transcripts of interviews were tendered in respect of witnesses who were either not available or in respect of whom no tangible benefit could be obtained from their being called to give oral evidence. The allegations will be detailed in this chapter, though it must be appreciated that what was alleged was not a series of unrelated corrupt acts but a course of conduct of which the individual matters referred to were said to be manifestations. This segment of the Royal Commission hearings used valuable resources and caused the Royal Commission to obtain an extension of time. This summary is also lengthy, and its volume is disproportionate to the significance of other issues which are dealt with more shortly in this Report. However, the matter has attracted serious and long-standing public concern, and a great deal of ground had to be covered. Accordingly, it has been considered appropriate to provide an extensive report on the investigations.

14.2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT

 Police investigations into alleged diamond thefts commenced in late 1989, following a report from the then Chief of Security at Argyle, Mr Richard Corfield. In November of 1989, Corfield had obtained diamonds from a Perth based diamond polisher, Mr Noel Newton. Those diamonds were removed for testing with Newton’s consent. The testing showed that some of the diamonds bore characteristics that were indicative of their having originated from Argyle.

CHAPTER 14 - ARGYLE

The testing also revealed that some diamonds were what is called “pre-acid”, that is, they were in the raw state prior to the acid cleaning that takes place at the mine site. No such pre-acid diamonds were to be released from the mine, and it was therefore believed that there could be no Argyle diamonds of this nature legitimately in circulation. A report in relation to the testing was sent to WAPS. That report was later to assume some significance, as it was alleged that a copy of it had been handed over to Roddan by Noye.

The diamonds had been placed with Newton by Roddan so that they could be cut and polished. After the initial testing, the diamonds were returned to Newton in order to allay any suspicions on the part of Roddan and so that investigations could continue.
The intention was that the diamonds would be recovered at a later stage by means of a search warrant. In fact, no warrant for their recovery was executed for several months. In the intervening period, some of the more significant diamonds were cut, with the consequence that any evidentiary value they might have had was lost. A police investigation, headed by Thoy, was commenced on 2 February 1990. Sergeant Clayton Gwilliam was assigned to assist with the investigation.
 During the course of it, Thoy became aware of evidence that he believed indicated that Roddan had knowledge of the investigation.
 Thoy asked Corfield to identify an employee involved in operational security at the mine site who could be trusted.
The person identified was Mr Barry Crimmins. Crimmins was given a briefing by Corfield, which included his being told that the principal suspect was Roddan. Crimmins knew Roddan, as they had both been involved in breeding dogs some years earlier.
In fact, it was later established that they had formed a partnership in the late 1980s to steal diamonds from the Argyle mine site. Not surprisingly, Crimmins did not reveal that he knew Roddan, but thereafter he was in a position to obtain information regarding the investigation.
As the investigation progressed, Thoy was required to give briefings to his superior officers.
 The number of these briefings, and the detail required in them, were unprecedented in his experience. He also believed that he was effectively ordered to discontinue certain lines of inquiry, and that his position had been undermined. This caused him to commence taping his meetings with the officers in question. Gwilliam also believed that decisions regarding the inquiries that could be pursued, and the resources which were available, compromised the effectiveness of the investigation.

On 10 April 1990, Gwilliam was effectively removed from the inquiry and sent to Belmont Police Station as the relieving officer in charge of detectives.

 Thoy protested against this  move, claiming that it made his continuing investigations extremely difficult. The following day, Thoy executed a search warrant at a property owned by Roddan. More diamonds were seized. On the same day, Superintendent Bruce Dalton gave a press interview, following a newspaper article in which a view had been attributed to him that the investigation had failed to produce any evidence of an offence. In June 1990, Ms Rae-lene Shore, Roddan’s former de-facto, approached police regarding a separate matter.
In the course of discussions, she revealed that Roddan and Crimmins were known to each other and that Crimmins had been at Roddan’s home in recent times.
 This raised an obvious line of inquiry, as it provided a means by which Roddan might have obtained possession of stolen diamonds.
Crimmins was confronted by Argyle as to why he had not earlier revealed this connection, and he was forced to resign from his position in operational security at the mine. Thoy asserted that, in October 1990, approaches by senior officers confirmed in his mind that an attempt was being made to pressure him into writing-off the inquiry. He was spoken to by Inspector Max Kiernan who, Thoy said, encouraged him to do what “they” wanted and to write-off the investigation. Further, he was ordered to attend the home of Superintendent Kim Chadbourne, who proceeded to ask questions about Crimmins.
Chadbourne had no responsibility for the investigation, but said that he was making the inquiries on behalf of Mr Rodney Bates, who was the Argyle mine manager at that time. On or about 1 December 1990,
Thoy said that a filing cabinet in which he kept items relating to the investigation had been broken into. He said that, at that time, some of the tapes he had made of conversations with his superiors had been stolen. He reported the matter, and an investigation was conducted, without result. It has also been suggested that other documents relevant to Thoy’s investigation were later found to be missing. Thoy was required to produce a final report on the allegations concerning the theft of diamonds, which he did on 14 December 1990.
In Thoy’s view, the investigation remained incomplete, due to orders he had been given to limit the scope of his inquiry. In particular, Thoy identified inquiries in relation to the Western Australian Diamond Trust (“WADT”) and inquiries into the alleged relationship between Crimmins and Roddan as being matters that required further investigation. Thoy complained in the report about what he saw as a concerted effort on the part of senior officers to undermine him. He went on stress leave shortly after the delivery of his report. A decision was then made by senior officers to conclude the investigation, and Argyle was informed accordingly.

CHAPTER 14 - ARGYLE PAGE 395

 On Thoy’s return to work, he was transferred to the uniformed branch, the ostensible reason for this being that questions had been raised regarding his judgment and attitude, though he was never specifically told this. His perception was that this was an attempt to silence and punish him for his honesty and perseverance. Thereafter, no active investigations were pursued by the Police Service until 1992.

Argyle, however, continued its own investigations as the ownership of the diamonds seized from Roddan remained in dispute and was the subject of interpleader proceedings in the Supreme Court. In June 1991, Corfield and another officer from Argyle, Mr John Burton, met with Assistant Commissioner Bruce Scott. There were two such meetings, the purpose of which was to advise the police of information that Argyle had obtained regarding Roddan. The second of these meetings is said to have concluded with Scott saying, “One day when we’re both retired I’ll tell you what this is all about”, or words to that effect.

Early in February 1992, Corfield and Burton met with Deputy Commissioner Frank Zanetti. Zanetti indicated that he had seen Thoy’s report, and that he intended to order a review of the previous investigation. Zanetti said that the person he had in mind to do the review was Noye, but that Gwilliam would be seconded to assist him.

Noye was so appointed, with instructions to review the files, with particular attention to what were described as the “grey areas”, by which it was understood that he would endeavour to determine whether there were matters that were worthy of further investigation.

Noye produced a preliminary report on 25 February 1992, recommending that a new investigation be commenced, and indicating that there was a “probability that further inquiries will reveal sufficient evidence to charge Roddan and Crimmins with conspiracy”. A decision was then made to commence a new investigation, led by Noye. Shortly after producing his preliminary report, Noye began meeting with Roddan. These meetings took place in cafés, without any other police officer being present. At one such meeting, Noye provided Roddan with a copy of a report relating to the testing of the diamonds. It has also been alleged that other police documents had been handed to Roddan on later occasions and that Noye had adopted an unreasonably negative attitude to interviewing prospective witnesses and he had failed to interview Crimmins.

Early in the second investigation, Noye met with Thoy and, it is alleged, said that Roddan had told him that he had paid $25,000 to get his diamonds back. Noye had not acted upon this claim, but rather had dismissed it as fanciful. He is also said to have been scornful of suggestions from Thoy that a case of conspiracy could be constructed. FINAL REPORT PAGE 396 Mrs Lynette Crimmins, the former wife of Barry Crimmins, said that she met Noye a number of times in Roddan’s presence, and can recall Noye saying that he expected to receive diamonds and cash for assisting Roddan. Roddan is alleged to have said that Noye would protect her, and that he was to receive a substantial sum of money for writing the matter off.

Noye took a statement from Mrs Crimmins that served to explain away any connection between her former husband and Roddan that was, she said, almost totally the work of Noye. On 4 August 1992, Noye was fined $200 on a disciplinary charge relating to the improper release of confidential information from the police computer. That charge was not related to the Argyle investigation. Noye was at the time in the process of writing his final report that was to recommend that the Argyle investigation be terminated. At about this time, Roddan instructed his solicitors to approach Argyle and to tell the company that the police did not have a case against him.

On 3 September 1992, Mrs Crimmins reported that her house had been broken into. Noye attended and, Mrs Crimmins claimed, suggested that she inflate her insurance claim by including additional items of property that had not been stolen. In return, Noye was to receive 10 per cent or $1,000. Mrs Crimmins said that she later gave money to Noye, and that he led her to believe it was to be used to travel to Victoria on a private trip, during which he planned to see her former husband.

On 16 September 1992, Noye produced his final report. That report was strongly supportive of Roddan. In particular, Noye wrote: I can categorically state that I am confident that at no future time will any evidence be disclosed that will provably show that the diamonds claimed by [Roddan’s company] were illicitly removed from the control of the complainant … by any person [or that] there is any valid evidence of the existence of an organised consortium of mine staff and/or others engaged in the theft of diamonds from Argyle mine. The report was also highly critical of a number of potential witnesses. The recommendation that the investigation be concluded was accepted by Noye’s superior officers. On 18 November 1992, Noye travelled to Victoria on a private holiday and, whilst there, he arranged to meet with Crimmins. It has been alleged that, during this meeting, he gave assurances that no one would be charged, and that Crimmins should seek to get back his job at Argyle.

CHAPTER 14 - ARGYLE - PAGE 397

In January 1993, Noye was working at the Morley Central Intelligence Bureau when he was telephoned by Roddan. Roddan said that he had purchased some firearms that he believed had been stolen. Noye examined the police computer, confirmed that the firearms had been stolen and provided Roddan with other details that enabled him to locate the true owner. Roddan then approached the owner and persuaded him to pay $700 for the return of the firearms. On 18 January 1993, Mrs Crimmins attended at the home of Roddan. She was in a drunken state and was seeking, according to her, the repayment of money that she had lent to Roddan. She tried to effect an entry by “bashing” on the door. She broke a side window, crawled into the house, gashing herself in the process, and was physically removed from the house by Roddan. She suffered a broken finger as a consequence.

The police were called and she was taken to the Warwick Police Station.

These events caused Mrs Crimmins to make admissions about her own previous activities and allegations regarding those of Roddan. In particular, she admitted to her involvement in the sale of stolen Argyle diamonds and implicated Roddan and Crimmins in the theft of those diamonds. She also made allegations regarding a corrupt relationship between Noye and Roddan.

These allegations were not, however, reduced into a written statement for several months. An Internal Affairs Unit (“IAU”) investigation was commenced. That investigation focused on the allegations as they related to Noye. Mrs Crimmins, however, asserted that Roddan had claimed to have other police “mates”, who were referred to by nicknames that she repeated to the IAU. She also later identified Zanetti as a person whom she had seen meet with Roddan at a café. She further said that Roddan had told her that he had paid out money in order to have Thoy demoted. In early July 1993, Gwilliam was instructed to conduct a further investigation into the diamond theft allegations.

There was a strict demarcation between this investigation and that being conducted by the IAU. Orders were also given to Gwilliam and his team to limit their inquiries to the investigation of alleged thefts by Roddan, Crimmins and Mrs Crimmins. Information that indicated the commission of other offences was to be referred for investigation by others. Issues arose in the course of this investigation concerning the inadequacy of resources and the propriety of management decisions. Gwilliam and some of his fellow officers were of the view that inappropriate attempts were still being made by those in superior positions to limit the investigation. On 11 November 1993, charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice were preferred against Noye and Roddan.

There were also charges against Noye in relation to the allegedly false insurance claim and the disclosure of official secrets in relation to documents allegedly given to Roddan. Between April and September 1994, a preliminary hearing was held in the Perth Magistrate’s Court in relation to each of the charges then pending against both Roddan and Noye. In the course of those proceedings, Mrs Crimmins gave evidence of statements that she alleged had been made in her presence by Roddan and Noye. In particular, she said that Roddan had referred on numerous occasions to “Uncle Max and the boys” and to others such as “Zed, Kim, Bernie, Barney and Barnsey”. It was her understanding that these were references to police officers whom Roddan had called on for assistance.

As at June 1995, the allegations that senior officers had inappropriately stymied the earlier investigations remained unaddressed.

These allegations received an airing on the Four Corners programme on ABC television on 1 May 1995 and, as a consequence, a Victorian firm, Forensic Behavioural Investigative Services (“FBIS”), approached Argyle with a proposal to conduct a review of the previous investigations. This offer was accepted and, with the co-operation of Commissioner Falconer, FBIS was given access to the police files.

 FBIS provided a report to Argyle on 31 August 1995, a copy of which was given to Falconer. FBIS concluded that a number of matters had not been adequately investigated, and that there had been a failure in respect of investigative practices and supervision. As a consequence, Falconer approached the AFP and a joint task force was established by WAPS and the AFP to investigate the matters that had been identified by FBIS. The joint task force reported on 10 July 1996 (“the WAPOLINV Report”) and concluded, that “[i]n each of the three investigations there is evidence of mismanagement and the inability of some serving and former members of WAPOL to meet the responsibilities of their rank”. The report did not specifically consider the allegations of corruption made against Noye, as they were still pending before the courts at that stage. The report did, however, recommend that a number of officers who had been involved with the various investigations be subject to counselling in respect of identified failings.

Almost without exception, the officers concerned subsequently sought to dispute those findings and a number of formal counsellings that were based upon the report have subsequently been set aside. In May 1996, Roddan gave evidence at his trial on charges of conspiring to steal diamonds. He denied having any corrupt associations with police officers or of having paid any money to police officers. On 8 October 1998, the charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice (and other charges) against Noye and Roddan were discontinued.

One of the factors referred to as being relevant to that decision was the health and general attitude of Mrs Crimmins, who was the principal Crown witness. Insofar as there was a suggestion that Mrs Crimmins was unwilling to give evidence at the trial, she made public comments shortly afterwards, disputing that suggestion.

There was, in fact, another significant reason why the matter was discontinued, namely, that a perjury charge had been preferred against Gwilliam in respect of evidence he had given at the preliminary hearing. He was considered to be a witness of importance at the forthcoming trial.

 The perjury charge was pending at the time, and it was not considered appropriate for the Crown to call him as a witness of truth in circumstances where a charge of that nature remained unresolved. The perjury charge was itself later discontinued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (“DPP”).

14.3 ALLEGATIONS

 The failure of the first and second investigations needs to be seen in the context that it was later established at the trial of Roddan that there had in fact been a conspiracy to steal diamonds from the Argyle mine, and that Crimmins and Mrs Crimmins were parties to that conspiracy. It cannot, therefore, be suggested that there was never merit in investigating the complaints made by Argyle.

This does not, however, necessarily mean that the conduct of those investigations must have been marred by corruption. Investigations into real offences sometimes do fail because it is impossible to obtain sufficient evidence to charge anyone. Whether the actions of the senior officers responsible for the supervision of the investigations can be explained as being legitimate decisions by officers properly concerned to ensure that limited police resources are utilized appropriately, is a critical issue. A similar issue arises in respect of Noye.

Are his actions explicable as being those of a police officer properly carrying out a complex and difficult investigation? In examining these issues, it should not be assumed that actions or decisions that, with the benefit of hindsight, now seem to be wrong, are necessarily indicators of corruption, rather than being examples of poor management or errors of judgment. Whether such actions and decisions do point to corruption depends, to a considerable extent, on whether the evidence as a whole would support a conclusion that Roddan had associates within the Police Service upon whom he was able to rely to protect and assist him. For this reason, it is intended first to consider the evidence that could be said to support the existence of such associations.

Attention will then turn to the issue of whether any police officers attempted to corruptly limit or subvert the first investigation. Whilst it will be necessary to consider the evidence in relation to each of the incidents identified by Thoy and Gwilliam, it is accepted that the interpretation of those incidents should properly be viewed in the whole historical context.

The extent to which it can be said that there was some pattern or course of conduct that was only consistent with an improper effort to prevent the investigation proceeding, will be considered.

It is then intended to move on to consider the second investigation. The evidence in this respect raises a separate consideration. Even if there is no conclusive evidence of corruption amongst the senior officers responsible for the supervision of the three investigations, there still remains the question of whether Noye (in his own right, rather than as an agent for others) corruptly wrote-off his inquiry.

In this latter respect, some attention must, of necessity, be paid to the credibility of Noye as a witness. Consideration will then turn to the third investigation, in order to determine whether orders were corruptly given to limit the scope of the inquiries, and to wind up the investigation prematurely. Some attention will also be given to whether those involved in the inquiry have been victimized because of their persistence and because of the claims of corruption that they have advanced. 

14.4 DID LINDSAY RODDAN HAVE CORRUPT POLICE ASSOCIATIONS?

It has been alleged that Roddan had, at the time of the Argyle inquiries, and perhaps continues to have, improper associations with police officers. At its highest, it has been suggested that such connections have enabled Roddan to influence police activities and investigations and to evade police scrutiny.

At its lowest, it has been suggested that such associations enabled Roddan to have the advantage of access to information and material in relation to police activities.

These allegations are based upon statements that Roddan is purported to have made to others, his apparent awareness and knowledge of police investigations in the Argyle matter, that he is said to have telephoned police for improper purposes, and that he met with police officers for improper purposes. It is appropriate to give consideration to the evidence in respect of these matters to determine whether it discloses an improper relationship.

STATEMENTS ALLEGEDLY MADE BY RODDAN CLAIMING POLICE CONNECTIONS 

It has been alleged that Roddan has told various people at various times that he has contacts in WAPS whom he is able to influence to his own advantage. There has been widespread conjecture about the identity of those persons. His statements are most conveniently dealt with by referring to the evidence of those to whom they were made.

CHAPTER 14 - ARGYLE PAGE 401 DAVID KARPIN AND RICHARD CORFIELD

Mr David Karpin was formerly the managing director of Argyle. He told the Royal Commission, very early on in the inquiry, that he had received a telephone call from Roddan. He asked Corfield to join him, and placed the call on speaker-phone. Karpin and Corfield both gave evidence about this conversation, and about the notes that Corfield took of the conversation. The notes summarize Roddan’s remarks, on 25 January 1990, that he “has friends in the [Criminal Investigation Branch (“CIB”)] and knows that accusations have been made about him”. Karpin confirmed in evidence that, during this conversation, Roddan “mentioned a number of things, and that issue of having friends in the CIB and that he knew that there were accusations made about him by Argyle”. Roddan did not nominate who these friends were during the conversation. Karpin was aware that Corfield had been in touch with the Police Service by this stage. Karpin told the Royal Commission that Roddan made claims that he had heard “your person has had my phone bugged” and said “I’m under Police Department surveillance”. Karpin’s belief was that Roddan was referring to Corfield as “your person”. In fact, Roddan did come to be the subject of a covert listening device (“LD”) and to be under police surveillance in respect of this matter, but not until some time later. In relation to the reference in the notes to Roddan having friends in the CIB, he told the Royal Commission, “I’ve got no friends and never had any friends in the police force”. Roddan said he did not say what had been attributed to him. It was not possible, he said, that he could have claimed to have friends in the CIB. Roddan accepted that he may have made comments regarding his suspicion that his telephone was being bugged, and that he was under surveillance. He explained those comments in the following way: “Well, according to what I was hearing on the streets, Corfield had sooled them on to me, but my understanding was that he was conducting some sort of undercover police operation”. He had not heard this from any police officers, but “on the streets”.

RAE-LENE SHORE

Shore was living with Roddan during the early stages of the first police investigation. Shore gave evidence to the Royal Commission that Roddan “told [her] that he had mates in CIB and he talked about mates at Midland branch.

He told [her] that he had a cop mate that he FINAL REPORT PAGE 402 used to do gun deals with called Max”.

Shore told the Commission that Roddan did not refer to this person as “Uncle Max”, or to any other person as “Uncle Max”. She said that Roddan referred to this person on and off over the years and sometimes said that he was going to meet with him, but Shore never met “Max”.

Shore was interviewed by the IAU in February 1993 and it appears from the transcript of her interview that the surname Kiernan was put to her. She told the Royal Commission that she had not heard that surname while she was with Roddan, but that she had heard of “Max” in the context of guns. At the preliminary hearing, Shore gave evidence that Roddan had “bragged” that he had a contact in the police with whom he had dealt in relation to firearms. Roddan denied this. H

e told the Royal Commission that he knew a firearms dealer called Max, who was not a police officer.

The name of this person was provided in confidence to the Royal Commission. Roddan said in evidence that he had not told Shore he had friends in the “Midland branch”. He said that he had some dealings with an officer in relation to a particular issue, and he was “greatly appreciative of the officers from Midland for the information that they were able to supply”.

He denied that, even in such a context, he would refer to a police officer as a “mate”. Shore gave evidence that she had overheard Roddan use the name Zanetti whilst on the telephone. She said “he was talking to somebody else and he was making reference to the name Zanetti. He was passing a message through to someone, “Tell Zanetti”.

Shore was interviewed by the AFP in relation to this matter on 10 June 1996. During this interview, Shore said that she had heard the name Zanetti mentioned by Roddan in several telephone calls.

Her evidence to the Commission was that she could “definitely recall one phone call”. Shore was not able to recall a time when Roddan had said he had firearms stolen, but “[h]e always made complaints that he was being thieved from”.

Shore’s evidence to the Royal Commission was that, at some later time, she saw, or read, something about Deputy Commissioner Zanetti’s retirement and the name triggered her memory. Roddan said, “I have never, ever, in the presence of Ms Shore, made a reference to Zanetti. I have never, prior to the commencement of these proceedings in [1994], seen, spoken to, known of the existence of, any person by the name of Zanetti, other than a young detective called Zanetti who recovered a pump-action shotgun that had been stolen from my farm … and he telephoned me to advise me … ”. Zanetti has sons who were police officers at the time, and this could be a reference to one of them. However, the incident Roddan is referring to was, on his own evidence, after his relationship with Shore had ended, so it could not account for her evidence regarding the name.