NSW Police Deputy Commissioner denied travel request to get statement from Porter’s accuser

An application from sex crimes detectives to travel to South Australia to obtain a statement from Christian Porter’s accuser was denied by NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson.

The revelation is contained in 69 pages of documents produced to the NSW Legislative Council on Friday afternoon after a motion for an order of papers by Greens MP David Shoebridge.

According to one of the reports inside, the complainant first approached South Australia Police in November 2019 alleging she was raped by Mr Porter in Sydney in January 1988.

Mr Porter strenuously denies the allegations.

By February 2020, the woman was prepared to provide a statement. NSW Police were notified and the woman met with detectives “on short notice” in Sydney on February 27, 2020.

“During this meeting, [the woman] was provided the opportunity to return to Sydney at a later date to complete the statement or have investigators travel to South Australia to complete the statement,” the paper states.

Her preference was the latter, so she could have a support person by her side.

A four-day travel itinerary was drafted and Detective Senior Constable Samantha Meredith recommended “favourable consideration” be given to the application.

The travel request was submitted on March 10, 2020 – prior to the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown – and supported by her team leader Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft.

It was also approved by the NSW Police child abuse and sex crimes squad investigation teams manager, Detective Chief Inspector Mick Haddow, who said the matter involved a “very high-profile” person and a detailed statement was required.

He said circumstances relating to the complainant required two investigators to travel to Adelaide, being Senior Constable Meredith and Detective Senior Constable Scott Bernasconi.

Two further signatories were the squad commander and the commander of State Crime Command.

“The application for travel was ultimately not supported by the Deputy Commissioner Hudson, given the COVID-19 restrictions which came into effect,” a progress report states, noting the decision was made on March 13.

Deputy Commissioner Hudson cited “insufficient detail provided ... to justify why this travel cannot be deferred”, in accordance with a new policy “precluding international travel and restricting interstate travel to operational necessity”.

The woman was told that week investigators “would not be travelling to South Australia as planned to commence her statement” and expressed her desire to have one taken as soon as possible by telephone or on a Skype video call, the Strike Force Wyndarra documents state.

NSW Police responses to questions taken on notice during a NSW parliamentary estimate hearing were published last Thursday.

It said that during a teleconference on April 2, police presented options for giving a statement and a “joint decision by all parties was made not to conduct the interview remotely”.

“There were a number of reasons which led to this decision,” police said. “The victim was understanding and supportive of this decision.”

A post-operational assessment states the woman and investigators agreed to “reassess the situation” in one month but the woman was “realistic” and did not believe investigators would be allowed to travel to South Australia during the next three months.

“[She] acknowledged the difficulties being faced and indicated she had resigned herself to the likelihood that she would not be able to provide her statement to investigators until September 2020,” it states.

Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft contacted a brevet sergeant with South Australia Police on April 20, 2020, seeking her assistance in obtaining a statement from the complainant due to the coronavirus restrictions.

Her response, on April 30, was that she was “more than happy to assist” but was transferring to a new area from May 7. NSW Police stuck to the “original plan” to obtain the statement themselves.

Senior Constable Bernasconi emailed the complainant on June 22, 2020 “seeking her availability for a follow-up phone call in the coming days”.

On June 23, the woman replied saying she did not want to proceed with reporting the allegations. She took her own life on June 24, which led to NSW Police closing the case citing “insufficient admissible evidence”.

Mr Shoebridge said the latest documents, regarding the travel arrangements, were “meant to be produced earlier in the week” before they arrived around close of business on Friday.

“We now know that there were three viable opportunities to take a statement by travelling to South Australia, by video link, and through South Australia Police and all three were rejected,” he told the Herald.

“I can’t imagine anything more essential for NSW Police than to actively investigate an allegation of sexual assault and take a statement from the complainant.”

Mr Shoebridge said in addition to the latest documents, there are a series of un-redacted documents held under privilege in NSW Parliament: many of which he believes should also be made public.

“I will be engaging in that process in the coming days and weeks,” he said.

Mr Porter moved out of the Attorney-General’s portfolio in March, becoming the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology in a cabinet reshuffle.

with Fergus Hunter