Rita Panahi: Daniel Andrews’ government is hopelessly incompetent

Whether it’s the shambolic mess made of major projects or the mismanagement of vital services the Andrews government is proving to be hopelessly incompetent.

The Dan Andrews government is great at politics, but not very good at governing.

Whether it’s the shambolic mess made of major projects, the mismanagement of vital services or accumulating the biggest state debt in the country (and by some margin) the Labor government has proved to be hopelessly incompetent but electorally popular.

It helps when you have a feeble opposition and largely supportive media.

The latest Victorian blunder could see thousands of criminals having their convictions quashed thanks to more than 1,200 police members, protective service and police custody officers being incorrectly sworn in between 2014 and 2021.

Now the amendment to the Victoria Police Act was made by the Napthine government but it’s been the Andrews government that’s overseen the calamity between 2014 and 2021.

As Police Commissioner Shane Patton explained two weeks ago when the gargantuan stuff-up was first revealed, the blunder could have grave consequences for the criminal justice system.

“They were sworn in, but the person swearing them in didn’t have the valid powers to do so, so they didn’t get the powers of a police officer,” Mr Patton said.

“They haven’t had those valid powers that are special, that only police get given to them to enforce separate laws above what a normal citizen has.”

Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

This week the first of what is expected to be many accused criminals walked free from jail after successfully arguing that the serious charges against him were invalid as the officer who charged him was among those not properly sworn in.

Magistrate Tony Parsons on Monday struck out all the man’s charges citing an “abuse of process” and not the time he’d already served waiting for the charges to be heard.

“The prosecution is tainted to the extent that the police informant has not been sworn in,” Magistrate Parsons said. “To deprive the defendant of his liberty in this circumstance is an abuse of process.”

We were warned this could happen and that there was no easy fix for a bungle of this magnitude.

The state opposition has not sought to make political capital of the issue and immediately vowed to back any retrospective legislation Labor introduces to backdate the affected police officers’ powers.

That legislation passed parliament this week.

Victoria Shadow Emergency Services Minister Brad Battin told me the priority was to protect police officers and prevent the courts from being clogged further.

“At the end of the day these men and women go out and protect us every day and we must ensure they are protected, too,” he said on Sky News.

“We don’t want to put at risk the arrests they’ve made or the warrants … as far as embarrassing the government there’s so much out there already and the reality is that in Victoria we want to get back to normal and rebuild.”

But it’s unlikely that simply passing retrospective legislation will resolve the crisis.

Victoria Police moved quickly to swear in officers after the administrative bungle was revealed. Picture: Ian Currie

David Galbally QC believes the impact of the swearing-in blunder could be felt for years to come.

He said: “It will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case. If there is sufficient evidence elsewhere that can uphold a conviction, it will be upheld. If there is not, and it is entirely dependent on evidence of officer then it won’t stand up. It will throw a lot of arrests that have taken place into chaos.”

Criminal defence lawyer Peter Morrissey, SC, also said the retrospective legislation will not stop more challenges. He said: “The breaches which occurred are not mere technicalities, because the processes in place are designed to ensure that extensive investigative powers are only given in an accountable way.”

What is clear is that this shemozzle should’ve never happened and there is no easy fix that will undo the damage done between 2014 and 2021.