Editorial: The law applies to all, police included
The Australian January 29, 2007
Queensland police should not strike to protect their own
QUEENSLAND Police Union official Denis Fitzpatrick should calm down and shut up, but only after unconditionally withdrawing the outrageous threat that his members might take "industrial action" now that Attorney-General Kerry Shine has moved to charge Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley with the manslaughter of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island in November 2004. Mr Fitzpatrick says police are "incensed" by what he calls "political interference". But what will incense everybody who accepts that all Queenslanders should be equal before the law is Mr Fitzpatrick's stand-over style. To suggest that police could strike because the union does not like the prospect of one its members having to answer allegations before a court is appalling. That Mr Fitzpatrick is making such threats, given the circumstances of Sergeant Hurley's case, is outrageous and reminiscent of the Bjelke-Petersen era when police enforced the law as and when they liked. In contrast to the low-key response to Mr Doomadgee's death, when protests broke out on Palm Island there was no mucking about, 80 officers flew in and arrested 25 people - for property damage.
Whether Sergeant Hurley is guilty of a crime in the way Doomadgee died in the Palm Island police station in 2004 will be for a court to decide. But what is beyond doubt is the way Queensland police looked after their own from the start of this wretched matter. Doomadgee's death was first investigated by friends of Sergeant Hurley. The original police statement for the pathologist conducting the autopsy on Doomadgee's body did not mention allegations of an assault. Deputy Coroner Christine Clements was not impressed, concluding that some of the investigating officers were "wilfully blind" and that Sergeant Hurley's actions were responsible for the death. This was enough for Police Union president Gary Wilkinson to attack Ms Clements so bitterly the Attorney-General charged him with contempt of court. But after that things looked up for the Police Union. In an extraordinary interpretation of the evidence, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided Sergeant Hurley had no case to answer. And there the matter could easily have ended. Premier Peter Beattie showing no interest in upsetting the Police Union, piously proclaimed the independence of the DPP. But thankfully times have changed since the era when the death of a black Australian in police hands did not excite any interest. The Queensland Government finally sought independent advice from former NSW chief justice Laurence Street on the DPP's decision. While it had taken Queensland's police and justice system two years to find no reason to prosecute Sergeant Hurley, Sir Laurence suggested quick smart that he had a case to answer.
And now the Police Union is compounding their errors by threatening industrial action, although it is illegal for police to strike in Queensland. The state Opposition added to the infamy yesterday, suggesting the Government should pay Sergeant Hurley's legal fees, to restore police confidence in the Government. Nonsense. What is required is for Police Union officials to win back the confidence of both the community and rank-and-file police. The job of officers serving in communities, cursed with alcohol and substance abuse, is not easy, as Commissioner Bob Atkinson acknowledged yesterday in an email reminding police where the duty lies. But it is now up to Police Union officials to demonstrate they do not place the wellbeing of one of their members above justice.