Helping with police probe? NSW DPP Sally Dowling won’t say
Sally Dowling SC has refused to confirm whether she is cooperating with a police investigation into an extraordinary leak of legally restricted material from within her office.
NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC has refused to confirm whether she is co-operating with police in an ongoing probe into an extraordinary leak of possibly legally restricted material from within her office, saying she does not want to impact the investigation.
Appearing in state parliament on Friday, Ms Dowling said no disciplinary action had been taken against any staff member involved in sending material relating to a children’s court proceeding to 2GB radio host Ben Fordham.
She said the ODPP had conducted a cyber search to determine who had access to the information handed to Fordham, and that information had been shared with police as part of the investigation.
“Any internal disciplinary proceedings arising out of this will be conducted once the police investigation has,” Ms Dowling told budget estimates. “Until the police investigation is completed, I’m not going to speculate about internal disciplinary proceedings.”
It was the first time she has spoken publicly about reporting in The Australian two weeks ago that revealed Sydney detectives have been running a criminal investigation since last year into an alleged offence at the heart of the prosecution office.
The investigation has revolved around the alleged leak of restricted information about an underage Aboriginal offender to 2GB, with police inquiring as to whether the leak was motivated by a staffer hoping to damage the reputation of a judge who had been critical of Ms Dowling’s conduct.
Officers were tasked with investigating the matter after 2GB and Fordham aired an “exclusive” about an alleged “violent criminal” who was permitted by NSW District Court judge Penelope Wass SC to do a Welcome to Country before he was sentenced.
The story aired on 2GB the day after the ODPP had been asked questions by The Australian about an article with the full details of a formal complaint lodged by Judge Wass against Ms Dowling, in which she alleged the DPP had tried to “exert influence” over the judiciary.
Ms Dowling on Friday refused to answer questions by upper house Liberal MP Susan Carter over whether she was co-operating with police in regards to the investigation.
“I don’t propose to answer any more questions, or questions in any detail, because there is an ongoing police investigation,” she said. “I don’t think that would be appropriate.”
Ms Carter persisted: “Why aren’t you answering questions because there’s an investigation?”
“This isn’t subjudice. It isn’t a matter before the courts. The police are simply trying to determine whether the leak came from the ODPP or not. Surely you would be interested in making sure that the reputation of the ODPP is upheld?”
The director replied: “I am interested in the reputation of the ODPP.”
Asked whether a staff member leaking information would constitute a breach of contract, Ms Dowling again refused to respond. “It depends on their role … I take issue with the word leak. For example, members of our media team are employed to talk to the media about matters that we are running,” she said. “So I can’t answer that question accurately the way it’s framed.”
Ms Carter asked in what circumstances it would be appropriate for a media team member to discuss a matter involving an Indigenous minor with the press.
“It would depend on what the media question was,” Ms Dowling said. “We get a lot of media questions. We try to respond to them in a helpful way.”
Ms Carter: “If there was no question, if this was information that was volunteered, would that be appropriate action on part of your media person?”
Ms Dowling: “I can’t answer that question.”
The Australian is not suggesting that the story of the child’s Welcome to Country was leaked to 2GB to take the focus from Judge Wass’s complaint against Ms Dowling, nor that Ms Dowling was personally involved in the leak. The motivation for leaking the material is unknown.
The NSW Bar Council last week closed Judge Wass’s complaint against Ms Dowling, finding it did not have the jurisdiction to determine whether her actions amounted to unsatisfactory professional conduct.
The ODPP on Wednesday released the results of an audit of the state’s sexual assault prosecutions, which was conducted after five District Court judges criticised the office for running rape cases that had no prospect of securing a conviction.
The results showed 11 rape cases being run by the ODPP did not comply with their own guidelines. Some 17 sexual assault matters were dropped on evidentiary or discretionary bases.
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley during budget estimates on Friday admitted he has not read the results of the audit.
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