FoI shows gag on police plan
By Dan Silkstone, Richard Baker
April 3, 2004
Victoria Police raised concern about the separation of powers after they were stopped by the Bracks Government from giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into drugs.
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show the Government used controversial new guidelines that allow ministers to veto "politically sensitive" submissions to parliamentary committees to stop the police from recommending changes to drug laws to give them broader powers.
Senior police were stopped from appearing before the all-party Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee on October 27 last year after the Department of Justice raised concerns about their submission.
The submission called for drug dog squads to be given powers to patrol railway stations, shopping centres and dance parties and for changes to laws covering the manufacture of amphetamines.
The department said the submission was inappropriate because it moved beyond operational matters and into areas of Government policy.
But a letter from committee chairwoman Carolyn Hirsh shows police were explicitly asked to provide recommendations for law reform.
Documents show Superintendent Paul Ditchburn, the officer liaising with the committee, told Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon's office that the department's actions raised issues that needed resolving, such as "separation of powers" and possible damage to the relationship between the commissioner and the Police Minister.
Mr Ditchburn told senior police that the committee hearing had to be cancelled because the Department of Premier and Cabinet had not approved the release of the submission.
"A heavily censored version may now proceed," he said.
The Government came under fire last year after Premier Steve Bracks's department issued new guidelines giving him and other ministers the ability to stop information being presented to parliamentary committees.
The executive officers of several committees complained that the guidelines amounted to censorship and even some Labor MPs privately expressed concerns.
The documents also show that Police Minister Andre Haermeyer's former chief-of-staff told Mr Ditchburn to make sure police were careful about the information they presented to the committee, saying "we need to be careful not to excite the media at these events".
The documents, which were sought by the Opposition last November, were released by the Government yesterday. Under Victorian law, FoI requests should be processed in 45 days.
The drug dog powers recommended by police already exist in NSW and the submission concludes "significant drug crime prevention and community safety benefits could be gained if Victoria Police had similar legislation".
A spokesman for Mr Haermeyer said the decision to veto the submission has since been reversed by the Government.
He said the decision was an "over-zealous application" by the Department of Justice of the rules governing committee appearances. He said the committee later gained access to an uncensored version of the submission.
