After a week of leaks and comments in The Courier-Mail over a private joke made by One Nation MP Jack Paff the following editorial appeared rather like a media-inspired and driven swan song - aimed at terminating the MP's influential position on the PCJC.
What is of interest is the fact that One Nation's press release faxed to The Courier-Mail the previous day was totally ignored by this joke of a paper.
Here is an extract:
The admission by Acting Premier David Hamill that he was in possession of information from the CJC denigrating an appointment to the PCJC and that an attempt was made to lobby the Leader of the Opposition against that appointment was defacto proof that the CJC itself was attempting to control a parliamentary overview committee for its own advantage and was up to its armpits in ALP politics.
Mr. Hamill's admission, and the issue itself should be picked up by Premier Beattie on his return from holidays, and closely examined with a view to relieving Mr. Hamill of his appointment.
The Acting Premier, by his comments at a media conference yesterday, has indirectly put the government's stamp of approval on some PCJC parliamentary appointees and removed his approval on others while overlooking the inference that the PCJC is no longer independent but under the thumb of his ALP Government and the CJC legal bureaucracy.
The CJC has been acting politically and its attacks on a sitting MLA are proof of this.
It is more than likely that the sensationalised leaks about Jack Paff, the Member for Ipswich West, came from the CJC, which would suggest that the CJC leaks like a sieve when the ALP seeks assistance.
Of course balance in reporting is something which The Courier-Mail have time and again proved that they are incapable of achieving.
The infamous Shreddergate which had both the Labor and Coalition parties left in a no-win position on credibility - a tag which was subsequently demonstrably extended to the highly politicised CJC itself - was all but ignored by The Courier-Mail... no prizes for guessing why.
Here is that editorial:
The Courier Mail, 20th January 1999
Predictably, the calls for Jack Paff , the One Nation MP for Ipswich West, to resign his place on the Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee, have been met with cries that there is a conspiracy to get him. This, it is said, is a payback for Mr Paff's defamation action against the Speaker, Ray Hollis, who made public the fact that he had referred to the relevant authorities a sexual harassment complaint made against Mr Paff by a member of his staff.
The reasons Mr Paff should quit the PCJC have nothing to do with the sexual harassment allegation. They arise out of Mr Paff's comments at a function held by the Governor, at which he was overheard telling a police inspector of an occasion when a serving police officer, now an assistant commissioner, had sat on a suspect's chest and squeezed his testicles to force him to sign a false confession. A member of the Government's staff reported the conversation to the Criminal Justice Commission, which in turn questioned Mr Paff. Mr Paff allegedly told the CJC he had made up the story to shock the inspector.
Assistant Commissioner Graham Williams has commented that it was "absolutely absurd these allegations could be made, as outrageous as this, by a man in such a responsible position". That is absolutely right. Even if Mr Paff meant this as a joke, it was wildly inappropriate, because of the air of verisimilitude given to the tale by Mr Paff's 30 years of service as a policeman. And by his membership of the PCJC.
The PCJC, it need to be remembered, is the Parliament's watchdog over the CJC. It is also the people's watchdog. It is created by the same legislation that brought the CJC into existence, to ensure that the CJC does its job of monitoring the police and the criminal justice system and investigating official misconduct throughout the public sector. The PCJC exists to keep the CJC on track. Mr Paff's long police service might have been helpful for his work on the PCJC, but his Government House gaffe demonstrates otherwise.
In fact, former PCJC chairman Frank Clair had other reasons for questioning Mr Paff's fitness, including criticisms made of him and his conduct years earlier by a Supreme Court judge. Unfortunately, Mr Clair saw fit to write to the Premier detailing his concerns. In effect, he wanted to blackball Mr Paff in secret - without giving him the opportunity to respond. The Leader of the Opposition, Rob Borbidge, who was made privy to the correspondence, declined to act on it. He thought it proper that One Nation should be represented on the PCJC, and was prepared to allow One Nation to choose which of its MPs should serve on the committee. In Parliamentary and Political terms, Mr Borbidge acted generously but appropriately.
If Mr Paff is to be called upon to resign (as he should be) or to be removed from the PCJC (if he won't go voluntarily) it is because of his actions since he became an MP, not because of some dossier drawn up by the CJC. It would be ludicrous for the government to criticise the Opposition Leader for what has now eventuated. If the Premier had good reasons for wanting to prevent Mr Paff from joining the PCJC, he had a duty to explain them to the whole Parliament - and the public.