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Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley (left) leaves the Townsville Supreme Court, with Queensland Police Union president Gary Wilkinson after a jury acquitted him over the death in custody of Palm Islander Mulrunji Doomadgee.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt) |
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Beattie admits to leaking report that led to Palm trial
Issue 132 - 28 Jun 2007
By Drew Cratchley and Jessica Marszalek
BRISBANE
Issue 132, June 28, 2007: Queensland Premier Peter Beattie last Friday admitted he leaked the report that led to Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley being charged over a Palm Island death in custody, as anger grew among the Aboriginal community over the police officer’s acquittal.
About 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders last week marched on Brisbane’s Parliament House, demanding a fairer justice system.
While the group marched through Brisbane, Mr Beattie revealed he had released a report by former NSW chief justice Sir Laurence Street to The Courier-Mail newspaper in February, the day before Snr Sgt Hurley was charged with the manslaughter and assault of Mulrunji Doomadgee.
The report was a second opinion which recommended charges be laid, after prosecutors earlier said Mulrunji’s death appeared to be an accident and did not recommend charges.
Snr Sgt Hurley was last week found not guilty in Townsville’s Supreme Court.
He was the first police officer in Australian history to be charged over an Aboriginal death in custody.
When the newspaper published details of the report Sen Sgt Hurley’s lawyer, the Queensland Police Union and Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney criticised the leak, and Mr Beattie refused to confirm or deny he had been its source.
But Mr Beattie confirmed he had leaked the report.
“At that time I believed strongly that it was entitled to be released ... and I make no apology for it,” Mr Beattie told reporters.
“The public had a right to know and the police union was out there misrepresenting what was in the report and what it meant.”
Mr Beattie said he leaked the report to guarantee a more comprehensive coverage than what could be given by television or radio news stations, and had intended to release it publicly at a press conference the next day.
But the next day Snr Sgt Hurley was formally charged and Mr Beattie could no longer comment on the case as court proceedings had begun.
He denied having prior knowledge of the date the charges would be laid.
“I took the view that I was not going to interfere while the trial had started ... (but) I did not at any time deny that I had released this,” Mr Beattie said.
Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney said the premier’s admission revealed him as a political bully.
“It proves that Peter Beattie has no shame,” Mr Seeney said.
“Peter Beattie has put Chris Hurley, his wife and family through hell all for his own, grubby political purposes.
“He’s not fit to be premier.”
Queensland Police Union (QPU) president Gary Wilkinson said Mr Beattie’s admission vindicated a series of radio advertisements launched in the aftermath of the trial attacking the state government over political interference in the Hurley case.
“It’s a stunning admission which proves that what we’ve been saying is true,” Mr Wilkinson said.
“Peter Beattie has been playing politics with the life of Chris Hurley right from the beginning, and that is the very point of our ads.”
The ads have been widely condemned, and came under fire from the protesters outside parliament house.
The protesters also demanded Indigenous flags flying on the grounds of parliament be removed, after claims they were flown upside down earlier this week.
Speaking to the group, protester Wayne Wharton accused the government and police service of immorality.
“I thought we were dealing with human beings that had a bit more morality,” Mr Wharton said.
Brisbane-based Aboriginal activist Sam Watson is seeking a meeting with Mr Beattie in the coming weeks to discuss relations with Queensland’s Indigenous community. - AAP
 
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