The Heiner affair?
I thought I’d title this post as a question, because I have never heard of the Heiner affair. Until today, that is, I was blissfully unaware that allegations of criminal misconduct were floating around against many prominent Labor politicians, including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd!
From what I have learned so far, the story is that an inquiry by retired magistrate Noel Heiner into complaints of sexual abuse at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre was shut down only weeks after the Goss government came to power in 1989.
Not only that, but the cabinet of the day decided, for reasons that have yet to be uncovered in court, to shred all documentation collected thus far. These people knew that the information they were destroying was necessary to bring criminal charges against those involved in the abuse, yet they still chose to destroy them.
Various senior officials are implicated in a nine-volume audit report by leading Sydney barrister David Rofe, QC. Despite that is said to contain as many as 68 specific allegations with enough evidence to bring charges.
Some of those named include current Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and his proposed new Governor General Quentin Bryce.
Those who have waited nearly 20 years for justice to be served might finally be in luck, as the Rofe report has been loged with the Queensland Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee on February 14. Its a shame that the same report was not able to tabled in Federal Parliament back on 19th September 2007. All it took was one Labor senator to object, and Senator Barnaby Joyce was unable to table the document.
Having learned this much so far, it makes me wonder what kind of people we have elected to run this country. I only hope that the facts are uncovered publicly and that whatever wrong doing has occurred is uncovered, and those responsible punished accordingly.
In the coming day’s I’ll draft up some letters to the relevant people and see if we can move things along.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Dear Cranky
Where have you been for he last 18 odd years that you’d not heard of the Heiner affair before today.
It is the worst scandal this nation has ever seen, and still remains unresolved.
Presumably you read The Sunday Telegraph article by Piers Akerman on 27 April 2008. A more disturbing article you will not find. Post it on your webpage.
You have some time to make up, so you had better start drafting your promised letters…
April 30th, 2008 at 8:26 am
A website dedicated th the Heiner Affair can be found here http://www.heineraffair.info/ It is a full account of the Heiner Affair with transcripts from Hansard, inquiries, media articles and legal opinions.
The integrity of our Judiciary is now brought into question with six sitting Queensland judges accused in the Rofe audit of perverting the course of justice. The PCMC is examining the audit.
The only outcome can be the appointment of a truly independent investigation or judicial review of the affair.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:00 am
Thankyou for your comments. I missed this because I have been someone, like most Australians, who gets their news from the same few sources. This isn’t being reported widely, and I wonder why that is.
Plus, I was only 15 when this happened and lived south of the border. I’m not sure how much coverage this would have gotten outside of Queensland at the time, and if it did, how much attention I would have paid back then.
But now I am aware of it, and I am drafting those letters, which I will publish on this blog shortly.
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:48 am
Cranky,
You should start by reading the Lindeberg Petition to the Queensland Parliament in 1999. It’s an important document and is really what got the wole affair off the ground. The cover up continues to this day.
High stakes are involved in the Heiner Affair because it could mean jail terms for politicians, members of the judiciary and senior public servants if the matter is ever fully investigated and charges brought on those involved.
The petition can be found here. http://www.heineraffair.info/site_pages/lindeberg_petition.html It is a lenghty document but well worth the read.