James O’Doherty: Public deserves full and open disclosure when it comes to police matters

If Yasmin Catley doesn’t find a better way to answer questions about the tasering of a 95-year-old, one has to wonder whether she is up to managing the portfolio, argues James O’Doherty.

When Chris Minns announced his first cabinet, the promotion of Yasmin Catley to the Police portfolio was one of the bigger surprises.

Catley, as Jodi McKay’s deputy leader, was firmly in the camp trying to see off the leadership challenge that delivered Minns Labor’s top job.

She is hardly a close ally of the now-Premier. So when Labor’s first ministry promoted Catley from Customer Service and Digital to the Police portfolio, eyebrows were raised.

At the time, it was argued behind the scenes that Catley’s elevation was an attempt by Minns to bury the factional hatchet.

But some Labor sources argued the job would be a poisoned chalice.

Minister for police and counter terrorism Yasmin Catley during Parliament question time this week. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Catley, a leading figure in Labor’s left faction, is arguably not the most natural fit for a role that requires a tough-on-crime stance.

Her faction even tried to force Labor to repeal tough anti-protest laws last year, in a direct rebuke to the Premier’s stance.

To her credit, Catley has this week come out to strongly denounce the actions of climate change protesters causing havoc on freight rail lines.

But her handling of a series of crises facing police since coming to office raise the question of whether she is across her brief.

If Catley’s notes for a media conference in April are anything to go by, we probably should not be surprised that the Coalition smells blood in the water. She arrived with a list of handwritten talking points for the announcement, with Police Commissioner Karen Webb, about a major sting on domestic violence offenders.

“1. Talk about DV,” the notes began, before “2. Tackling DV is a priority for the Minns govt”.

Task number six on Catley’s hand-drawn list was to “pass to commish (Commissioner Webb),” presumably for more details.

Two months later, Catley is still struggling to answer questions without step by step instructions.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that NSW Police deliberately omitted key details about the tasering of 95-year-old Clare Nowland from its initial public statements.

Asked in Parliament about the apparent omission of information, Catley said that she only learned about the draft media release from media reports.

Webb publicly stated, a month ago, that key details were left out of the original release a month ago.

“Early in the investigation it was necessary for us to make sure that the family were aware what the circumstances were,” she told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on May 22. “We didn’t want that family to hear on the radio or on TV what had happened to their mum, and so we had to be a bit sensitive to that,” Webb said.

Police Ministers are routinely briefed on sensitive police matters. After being caught flat-footed in her initial response to the tasering, it beggars belief that Catley would not make sure she was fully informed.

The tasering is now the subject of multiple investigations, including a criminal probe and an investigation by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.

But crucial questions about how NSW Police handled the incident (as distinct from the tasering itself) remain unanswered.

Chief among which is the question of when Mrs Nowland’s family was told about what had happened to her.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb. Picture: Adam Yip

Catley refused to answer that on Thursday, as did Police.

Her handling of the police tasering is not the only time Catley appears to have been left wanting.

She struggled to defend police after The Daily Telegraph revealed Wayne Smith had his gun licence revoked and then reinstated before he shot and killed his teenage son.

The Minns government later announced a review of how the firearms registry handles people with mental illnesses.

The Coalition smells blood in the water, and is going after the person they see as the weakest link.

Liberal leader Mark Speakman is already calling for Minns to consider sacking Catley. That’s not going to happen, at least for now.

The government argues that the whole line of questioning is an attack on frontline officers, and an attempt to politicise a series of tragic deaths.

Notably, when asked if he thought the tasering of Clare Nowland was subject to a “police cover up” yesterday, Speakman refused to answer. “I’m concerned about the lack of transparency. These are simple questions that should be easily answered,” he said.

“If it’s said that the public couldn’t be told in a timely way about the tasering because of the need to tell the family, well, when were the family told?” he asked.

Omitting sensitive details from a media release, on the balance, falls short of a cover up, but the public is entitled to get a full picture of why those decisions were made, and to have questions surrounding the incident answered.

And the Minister needs to give a better explanation of what she knew, and when. These questions are not going to go away.

If Catley doesn’t find a better way to answer them, one has to wonder whether she is up to managing the portfolio she’s been entrusted with.