Rudd haunted by an affair of the heartless

Gang rape, shredded documents, smear campaigns. Is the Heiner Affair the skeleton in Kevin Rudd's closet?

TWO years ago senior NSW silk David Rofe and the now Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd independently chose courses that ensured their lives would inevitably clash. In Sydney, Rofe began the arduous task of examining the long-running but still-festering Heiner Affair which began with the (still unresolved) rape of a 14-year-old Queensland Aboriginal girl. This would enmesh numerous politicians and senior public servants when the Goss cabinet ordered the shredding of critical evidentiary documents. Unbeknown to him, but almost exactly as he began examining a mountain of invaluable new evidence painstakingly gathered by whistleblower and former trade union organiser Kevin Lindeberg and journalist and media academic Bruce Grundy, Rudd, in Canberra, was beginning to claw his way to the top of the political pile. As Rofe recently completed his 3600-page, nine-volume work, and Rudd was preparing to lead the ALP into its first election under his leadership, their trajectories collided. Rudd was chief of staff to premier Wayne Goss when the decision was taken to shred the documents Rofe was examining. He went on to become director-general of the Goss cabinet. The Labor leader was forewarned on August 16 when Queensland's then-premier Peter Beattie was presented with an unprecedented letter of concern from a number of the most senior legal luminaries in the nation. They presented a sound and well-reasoned argument for the appointment of an independent special prosecutor into the Heiner Affair. Within days, Rudd's office countered with claims he would be the target of the "mother of all smear campaigns". Taking time from his Mandarin-speaking publicity grab during APEC, Rudd gave The Daily Telegraph an exclusive interview with a principal theme - his anticipated smearing. Though he claimed the Heiner Affair had been sufficiently explored, Rudd also told The Sunday Telegraph he would support further investigation if new evidence were forthcoming. In reality there has never been an investigation devoted to the Heiner Affair - and there is new evidence - pages of it. Curiously, among those opposed to a new inquiry is Tony Morris QC, who was appointed by the Borbidge government to investigate some aspects of the matter and who, though never interviewing anyone, reported in October 1996 that the unaddressed criminality "on the papers" was so serious as to far outweigh the offences which brought the Fitzgerald inquiry into existence. "Substantial grounds exist for suspecting that serious criminal offences were committed in connection with the destruction of the Heiner documents," his report said. Even though he had been denied access to relevant Goss cabinet documents, he concluded "there are very compelling reasons in favour of the establishment of a public inquiry in relation to the matters which we have identified as being matters of concern arising out of Lindeberg's allegations". He had no access to incriminating information contained in Goss cabinet submissions, unlike Rofe and the 2004 Bishop Committee and he was unaware of the unresolved pack rape and child abuse associated with the matter. Now, although he has not viewed a page of the new evidence, Morris has told The Australian, which has also not sighted the audit, that he is opposed to his own report's recommendations and that those seeking transparency and justice - including presumably the apolitical Rofe - are political opportunists. What has changed? It is clear Rudd's pre-emptive briefings on so-called smears have spooked the Federal Government. Though Rudd claims he wants new evidence to be examined, Labor blocked Queensland National Senator Barnaby Joyce when he attempted to table some material on Monday. Federal Justice Minister David Johnston and his senior colleagues went to water out of fear that Rudd and his media manipulators would claim Rofe's scholarly forensic examination is the long-awaited smear he has been whining about. With Parliament to rise this week, Joyce may get an opportunity to raise the issue as a matter of public importance. The documents which might have enabled the media to make an informed judgment about Heiner will not however enjoy the protection of parliamentary privilege they deserve. Meanwhile a seriously wounded woman is eking out a troubled life in Queensland, waiting for those who confessed to raping her to be charged and for those who have fought so long to obstruct the road to justice to be brought to account.