Editorial: Disgrace that Qld police equate journalists with criminals

It is a disgrace Queensland police are unrepentant about lumping journalists in with criminal and extremist elements for staff to avoid, writes the editor.

Queensland Police Service – Generic images

• ‘Chilling’: Cops consider review

It is a disgrace that the Queensland Police Service is unrepentant about its decision to lump journalists in with criminals and extremists when it comes to telling its staff who they should not be associating with.

This is clearly, as former top cop Jim Keogh put it, nothing more than an attempt to control the narrative by those in charge of the state’s police service. Or, as top criminologist Terry Goldsworthy put it more bluntly: “This almost seems like a ham-fisted attempt to shut down bad news media stories that may be critical of the QPS.”

Considering its dark history, the Queensland Police Service should be more acutely aware than all other organisations of the dangers of running a closed shop. It should remember that corruption risks flourish in darkness. The antidote is sunlight – an open and honest approach to the way it does its work.

The 1980s Fitzgerald inquiry infamously confirmed systemic corruption in what was then the state’s police force. That was only a generation or two ago, and yet it worryingly appears those now running the modern-day police service have forgotten the critical lessons that emerged.

One of the Fitzgerald inquiry’s recommendations was literally to remove unnecessary obligations of secrecy on police officers. You can google it. Worryingly, those now in charge of our police service clearly have not. This is a real problem for democracy – as it points to just how far removed the organisation must now be from the rebuilt service of the 1990s that was modelled on the Fitzgerald recommendations.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli was absolutely right to yesterday describe this latest edict – which, it must be pointed out here, was wholeheartedly backed by the team at “Police Media”, whose job at least should be to tell Queenslanders what is going on – as chilling and dangerous.

Shockingly, Premier Steven Miles’s wet-lettuce response was “it doesn’t sound right to me” – when he was asked about this regression in the culture of the government’s most powerful organisation.

The police service itself had already confirmed it. There is no doubt about if these claims are true.

That formal response that came via the Police Media unit extended to 609 words. It was unrepentant – and did not deal with the core issue here; that by lumping journalists in with criminals and extremists as persona non grata for our state’s hardworking police officers that key Fitzgerald recommendation to “remove unnecessary obligations of secrecy” is being trampled on.

It points to a weakened police culture that should be of deep concern to all Queenslanders.

Remember, it was journalists doing their job who first exposed the corruption Fitzgerald later inquired into. That police bosses are back to lumping journalists in with criminals is a dangerous outrage.

It is also a worry that not even four decades on from those dark Fitzgerald days we have a Premier whose kneejerk response to this clear breach of core Fitzgerald principles was not to condemn it outright – instead weaseling out of the awkward campaign moment by saying nothing more than: “Let me find out more about it”.

To be fair, Mr Miles later labelled it unacceptable and said he would ask the Police Commissioner that it be changed if re-elected.

But the issue here is it points to a seriously problematic culture in the Police Service. This troubling truth was only confirmed by a further statement late yesterday that said police leadership “will consider reviewing the policy”. Consider!

Clearly, senior police simply do not understand the stakes here. Queensland, we have a problem.

SOCIAL MEDIA DANGERS OBVIOUS

News that every single clinician and carer who supports kids with eating disorders blames social media for its detrimental impact on their clients should be the final wake-up call for any Australian still equivocating over the need to better regulate the tech platforms.

That the 730 frontline workers surveyed also all demanded the tech platforms do more to address the harms being done to our kids, and that there was a need for policy change by government, shows the impact that social media is having across our nation.

These are shocking findings, but not a surprise. The Courier-Mail has been campaigning all year for the government to mandate a
16-year-old age limit for the use of social media, a move backed by 88 per cent of those workers surveyed.

It is clear that the damage being done to this generation by social media use is incalculable.

We should, however, count every single life lost – and tell each story as a shocking roll call until the tech platforms admit what they are doing, and the government acts.

This week another tragedy was added to that toll – Bundaberg girl Isla Marschke, 14, who took her own life after years of toxic bullying on social media and in person.

Her final message: “I’m sorry, I love you, Mum.”

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here