Police Minister won’t intervene on QPS Whistleblower ‘witch hunt’

The Premier and his Minister have faced questions about why the Qld Police is on a Fitzgerald-like ‘witch hunt’ to silence whistleblowers in the ranks.

The State Police Minister is refusing to stop an investigation into whistleblower officers accused of exposing a controversial declarable associations policy that lumped media “incompatible with Queensland Police (QPS) values” with bikies and religious extremists.

Police officers who are accused of leaking the internal training directive to the Bulletin are facing the sack or threats of criminal charges as the QPS Ethical Standards Command investigates the source of the leaks.

The Ethical Standards Command has directed officers to attend formal interviews including at Coolangatta on Thursday - as witnessed by the Bulletin.

On Friday, Police Minister Dan Purdie wouldn’t say whether he believed the officer accused of leaking a screenshot of the directive should face retribution for doing so.

“In relation to an ongoing Ethical Standards investigation and what they’re looking at and what they’re not looking at is not for me to comment on,” Minister Purdie said.

But he added: “Our frontline officers across the state need to be heard and we’re doing everything we can to put a system in place where frontline police come first, their concerns are heard, they are raised and they are resolved.”

Premier David Crisafulli and Police Minister Dan Purdie at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast to spruik Operation Whiskey Legion.

The inclusion of media in the policy when the Bulletin revealed it pre-election in October, was condemned by both side of politics - with then Opposition leader David Crisafulli calling it “dangerous” and “chilling”.

The now-Premier again denounced it again on Thursday morning: “I called it out then and I’ll call it out now.

“As far as I’m concerned journalists are not like motorcycle outlaws, they’re not like terrorists, they’re not like any of the other terms of those repulsive people.”

Mr Crisafulli confirmed the QPS was directed to have media removed from the Declarable Associations Policy in December.

“That’s how much, that policy, I detest it,” he said.

“I want police officers to know that they are free to be friends with journalists and they are free to be able to speak their mind. I want to see a culture where police feel valued and respected and that they can speak out.”

Police Minister Dan Purdie was reportedly blindsided by the whistleblower investigation.

Sources within the government say the Premier and Police Minister were “blindsided” to learn the policy training material had still not been updated by the QPS as of this week. They were also not aware an officer was formally interviewed by detectives at Coolangatta on Thursday in what critics have dubbed a “witch hunt” to silence whistleblowers in the service.

“The Premier personally took an interest in it (the story) because he wants to clean-up this culture (in the QPS),” the government source said.

“It would be inappropriate for the Minister or Premier to go and tell Ethical Standards not to investigate an issue even if it is as disgraceful as what has been reported. Really, it’s up to the Commissioner to address this and there have been robust discussion reminding him of this in the past 24-hours.

“If anything, the wedge between the executive leadership and the government is fractured and some of the upper echelons of the QPS should be closely considering whether they’re aligned with the service’s values or whether an early retirement is the best option.”

On Friday morning Minister Purdie addressed Commissioner Steve Gollschewski’s absence, as he and the Premier fronted media at Broadbeach to spruik the operation’s second Gold Coast crime crackdown.

“I spoke to the Commissioner this morning and I’ll be speaking to him again later,” Minister Purdie said of Mr Gollschewski’s absence.

“I speak to the Commissioner all the time - he’s got other commitments at the moment.”

When asked whether the Commissioner had his full support, Minister Purdie responded: “One hundred percent, unwavering.”

On Thursday, QPS did confirm the Ethical Standards Command probe but said “it would be inappropriate to provide further comment at this time”.

QPS’ statement added the Declarable Associations Policy had been reviewed and the reference to media removed - but an updated screenshot of it - sourced from police - showed as of late Thursday it had not been removed.

Originally published as Police Minister won’t intervene on QPS Whistleblower ‘witch hunt’