Opinion: Do you believe these women?

Allegations at the inquest into Brett Forte’s murder have plunged our police force into its deepest crisis in decades and the truth must be found, writes The Editor.

Nine harrowing days of evidence at the inquest on the murder of policeman Brett Forte have delivered one undeniable conclusion: Queensland Police is in the grip of a crisis that will haunt the force and this state.

Senior Constable Cath Nielsen, decorated with the force’s highest bravery award for dragging a mortally wounded Forte from their flipped patrol wagon under machine gun fire, has given sworn evidence detailing allegations of appalling mistreatment by other officers – simply because she tried to find out if her squad partner’s murder could have been avoided.

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen with her bravery award for attempting to save the life of her partner Brett Forte. Picture: Liam Kidston.

What must Police Minister Mark Ryan and former commissioner Ian Stewart think when they hear allegations that about the same time they presented this hero with her medal in 2017, her “life was made a living hell”.

That she testified she was threatened with disciplinary action for asking questions about whether some of her colleagues knew crucial information – about earlier machine gun fire at the spot she and Forte were lured to – she believes could have saved his life?

The officers she has accused have given evidence under oath that Sen Const Nielsen is mistaken and that the mistreatment she described did not occur.

If the evidence of Sen Const Nielsen and Forte’s police officer widow Susie – who claims she was blamed for her husband’s death by some colleagues – is accepted by the Coroner, this is the darkest moment for police in this state since the Fitzgerald era.

And, at a time when treatment of women in workplaces and our wider society is the biggest social issue in Australia following allegations political staffer Brittany Higgins was raped in Canberra’s Parliament House, this would rank as Queensland’s most scandalous contemporary case of the mistreatment of women within what should be a trusted institution.

The hero copper alleged her workplace was toxic: “You try being a senior constable, female, working in that environment,’’ she testified.

The wife of slain police officer Brett Forte, Susie Forte. Picture: Liam Kidston.

The issues at stake here have become much more than who did what in the hour before and the months after the ambush and execution of Sen Const Forte by deranged criminal Ricky Maddison on an isolated road near Gatton in 2017.

Today, Coroner Terry Ryan, police commissioner Katarina Carroll and Police Minister Ryan must all ask themselves two questions: Who do they believe and, if the answer is Sen Const Nielson, what are they going to do about it?

That second question may surprise you given the Coroner hasn’t handed down his findings yet, but legal observers believe the inquest may not get to the truth because these allegations don’t fall within the issues the Coroner has stated he is focused on in this case.

In fact, the only real interrogation of police witnesses about the treatment of Sen-Const Nielsen and Susie Forte is coming from Forte’s barrister – not the counsel assisting the coroner, or the lawyers for Queensland police.

Neither the coroner nor the QPS can figuratively put their hands over their ears and ignore this tragic and horrendous mess.

Brett Forte’s killer Rick Maddison.

The QPS, for its part, won’t even reveal whether it has conducted a proper internal investigation into the allegations made by Sen-Const Nielsen and Ms Forte.

Why not Commissioner?

Hiding behind the fig leaf of a coronial investigation is neither justifiable nor acceptable.

This case matters to everyday Queenslanders for more than just reasons of principle.

If the police force is bitterly divided, how can the people of Toowoomba have confidence their officers are properly focused on their job of protecting the community?

And, more broadly, young Queenslanders who want to become police officers need to have confidence about the culture they are signing up to join.

There has certainly been some surprising evidence during the inquest.

One of the officers who had been hunting Maddison testified he happened to take a bushwalk on his day off, carrying his special police iPad and a pair of binoculars, at the spot where automatic gunfire had been heard – 11 days before Forte would be killed on the same road.

But no, he said on the stand, he wasn’t there looking for Maddison and insisted he wasn’t aware of reports of automatic gunfire at that spot.

Of all the bush trails in all of the Toowoomba region, he coincidentally chose that one.

It ranks as an incredible coincidence.

The late Brett Forte.

In the mind of barrister Troy Schmidt – representing some members of the Toowoomba Tactical Crime Squad at the inquest– it is Sen Const Nielsen who is the liar and a fantasist.

In a tense cross-examination exchange, Mr Schmidt said “the simple fact is that things were going along fine” in the squad’s office and accused her of having “reconstructed her views”.

“Don’t ever suggest to me that I made this up in my head,’’ Sen Const Nielsen said through tears.

A screengrab from police footage of the moment Ricky Maddison shot Brett Forte.

On May 29, 2017, as the deranged gunman sprayed machine gun fire at their police vehicle, Nielsen made an anguished police radio call on the afternoon as her partner lay dying next to her: “We need help … we are sitting ducks.”

Forte was hit by two bullets. One in the arm. And one in the groin. These were not ordinary bullets, but SKS rounds designed to shred flesh with maximum force for maximum damage.

In reality the father of three never stood a chance.

To pull Forte from their police wagon, which rolled when he made a desperate attempt to reverse away from Maddison’s ambush and escape the gunfire, Nielsen smashed a hole in the windscreen big enough to remove a man.

Then, she dragged her policing partner on top of her and, with the help of colleagues, got him out of the vehicle in a desperate but vain bid to save his life.

At the inquest Nielsen described Forte as a “very ethical man”. His death must not be in vain, she said: “We have to change cultures, because this cannot happen again.’’

In this conflict, the coroner and the Queensland Police Service must find the truth and determine which of his colleagues shares the fallen officer’s ethics. The memory of Brett Forte, and the people of Queensland, deserve nothing less.