Police ads slam Beattie over Palm case
22.06.2007
By: Tony Koch, Padraic Murphy, Additional reporting: Sean Parnell
QUEENSLAND'S powerful police union has ignored universal pleas for all parties to ``move on'' after the acquittal of Palm Island policeman Chris Hurley, launching an inflammatory advertising campaign that invokes black leader Martin Luther King Jr and Zimbabwe to attack the state Government.
The radio ads, which went to air less than 24 hours after Senior Sergeant Hurley was acquitted of the manslaughter of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island in 2004, lash the Government for what the union claims is political interference in the justice system.
The union claimed that by ordering a review by former NSW chief justice Laurence Street of the original Department of Public Prosecutions decision not to put Sergeant Hurley on trial, the Beattie Government had breached the doctrine of the separation of powers.
At the same time, state Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney launched a strong personal attack on Sir Laurence, calling him a ``gun for hire'' who had given the Government ``the opinion he was paid to produce''.
The five police union ads were released yesterday and liken the Queensland Government to the despotic regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and also cite King, the assassinated US civil rights leader , as justification for their stance.
Police Union president Gary Wilkinson said at the completion of Sergeant Hurley's trial on Wednesday that it was ``not a time for celebration by anybody'', and Aboriginal leaders and politicians similarly called for restraint and dignity.
But barely one day later, the union unveiled ads that single out Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, Attorney-General Kerry Shine and the member for Townsville, Mike Reynolds, whose electorate contains Palm Island.
At one point, the ads say ``politicians could overrule our justice system. Zimbabwe's a good example of what could happen when politicians override the laws to suit themselves.''
One ad says, ``In January, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley became the first Queenslander ever to be prosecuted by a politician'', while another quotes King saying ``injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere''. ``Thankfully, justice has finally prevailed, but the damage for one Queenslander and his family has been done,'' the ad continues.
All the ads finish with the acknowledgment that they were ``funded by the members of the Queensland Police Union, in support of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, who was sent to trial by politicians. Mr Beattie, politicians should never overrule our justice system again.''
Palm Island, which rioted when the initial autopsy report into Doomadgee's watchhouse death was released in November 2004, was calm yesterday, with a constant drizzle and low temperatures keeping most people inside and off the streets.
Palm Island Mayor Delena Oui-Foster said the timing of the ads was insensitive and represented a further setback for the already damaged relationship between police and Aborigines.
``I believe they are not aware of indigenous issues,'' she said. ``A man has died in all of this, and that is very upsetting for people in our community.''
A police union spokesman said the ads were prepared after Wednesday's verdict and were not intended to be offensive to Aboriginal communities.
``We always knew it would be a not guilty verdict. The advertisement is aimed squarely at the Beattie Government and not at Aboriginal communities,'' the spokesman said.
The union refused to reveal the cost of the ads, but said they could run for several months on radio as well as television.
Bond University chair of criminology Paul Wilson said the ads were ``appalling'' and that it was ``stupid to suggest that because a court acquitted an accused person that the prosecution should not have been run''.
``I cannot recall a single police officer being charged with corruption before (Tony) Fitzgerald cleaned the service out,'' he said.
``Some 40 per cent of people charged before the Supreme Court are acquitted, and obviously that does not mean there has been political interference orthat the justice system is corrupt.''
AD ATTACK
Queensland Police Union launches advertising campaign against the Beattie Government
"Society may separate us at times, but under the protection of our justice system, we're all equal. Why then was equality of justice denied a Queensland police officer by our politicians, Kerry Shine and Peter Beattie?
This happened, even after our established justice system determined that he had no case to answer. Martin Luther King once said: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Thankfully, justice has finally prevailed, but the damage for one Queenslander and his family has been done."
"Dad, what does separation of powers mean?
Well, parliament makes the laws, the Government implements the laws, and the judiciary makes the decisions on what's legal.
The separation of powers stops one group making all the decisions.
What would happen if they did?
Well, politicians could overrule our justice system. Zimbabwe's a good example of what could happen when politicians override the laws to suit themselves.
So how do we stop it from happening?
Well, we make sure that politicians know that we don't like them overruling our justice system.
We just have to be prepared to speak out when the separation of powers is threatened."
"These messages were funded by the members of the Queensland Police Union, in support of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, who was sent to trial by politicians. Mr Beattie, politicians should never overrule our justice system again."
