Ex-Labor minister signed off on taxpayer-funded payout to Gobbo
Victoria’s Opposition Leader urged Premier Daniel Andrews to “front up” to the Lawyer X royal commission in the wake of today’s Herald Sun revelations about a former Labor police minister.
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A former Labor police minister has been dragged into the Lawyer X scandal amid revelations he personally signed off on a $2.8 million taxpayer-funded payment to Nicola Gobbo.
The Herald Sun today revealed Bob Cameron — police minister between 2006 and 2010 in the Bracks and Brumby governments — authorised the massive payout to Gobbo shortly before the November 2010 election.
The bombshell is the first time the scandal has extended beyond police and legal circles into the political realm and raises questions about who in the Brumby government knew about her secret role as a registered informer.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien called on Premier Daniel Andrews to “front up to this Lawyer X royal commission” in the wake of the revelations.
“He should give evidence and explain what he knew and when he knew it, because Victorians deserve the truth,” he said.
Opposition justice spokesman Edward O’Donohue also pointed out Mr Cameron’s chief of staff at the time was Brett Curran, who then became Mr Andrews’ chief of staff when he was the opposition leader.
Mr O’Donohue said today’s Herald Sun report raised “serious questions about what Daniel Andrews knew about this payment, and what Daniel Andrews knew about the activities of Nicola Gobbo as a police informer”.
Gobbo had demanded compensation of $20 million, claiming a police decision to make her a witness in a murder investigation targeting alleged corrupt officer Paul Dale had ruined her legal career and threatened her health and safety.
The Herald Sun can now reveal the $2.88 million settlement was signed off by Mr Cameron some time between August and September of 2010. Labor was defeated in the election weeks later on November 27.
Labor sources said it was not clear whether Mr Cameron was briefed on Gobbo’s top secret informer status before approving the settlement, but they believe it is likely he was.
It is believed the minister received a briefing note from police command on Gobbo, although it is not clear how much detail he was given.
When contacted by the Herald Sun, Mr Cameron said he did not comment on “matters of the past”.
When asked if he was briefed by police command about Gobbo’s informer status and what instructions he gave, Mr Cameron said: “I don’t recall those details.”
This high-level political intervention occurred almost four years before the Herald Sun revealed Gobbo’s double life as a criminal barrister — whom we dubbed Lawyer X — and police agent.
Ultimately, theHerald Sun ’s five-year investigation triggered a royal commission and has led to the release of one man convicted of a gangland murder.
Many of Gobbo’s other convicted gangland clients, including Tony Mokbel and Rob Karam, have launched legal action to win freedom, claiming their cases were tainted by her double role.
Gobbo’s writ, filed in April 2010, was filed a week after gangland figure Carl Williams’ death.
She had worn a wire to tape Dale at a coffee meeting in December 2008, which led police to charge him with commissioning the murder of police informer Terence Hodson.
Williams and Gobbo had provided statements against him and his co-accused, hitman Rodney Collins, who was also charged with the Hodson murders.
But the case collapsed after Williams was killed, while Gobbo launched her writ.
Sources at the time said the writ was settled in “record time” so that it would never enter a courtroom.
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Gobbo told lawyers acting for her of her secret role as a police informer.
The writ was filed against the state, former top cop Simon Overland and his predecessor, Christine Nixon, as defendants.
Months after the settlement, in response to a subpoena from Dale before another case began in 2011, (Dale was charged with lying to the Australian Crime Commission) police received legal advice that Gobbo’s informing must be disclosed to Dale.
The advice also stated that Gobbo’s informing may have compromised other convictions, including Tony Mokbel’s in 2006. Other prosecutions against Mokbel continued in 2012.