ODPP leaks ‘completely unacceptable’: NSW Premier Chris Minns

Chris Minns says it would be ‘completely unacceptable’ for the state prosecution office to leak information about an underage Aboriginal defendant to a commercial radio station.

NSW Premier Chris Minns. Picture: NewsWire

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NSW Premier Chris Minns says it would be “completely unacceptable” for the state prosecution office to leak information about an underage Aboriginal defendant to a commercial radio station.

Mr Minns told reporters on Thursday he had “zero tolerance” for private information about members of the public being leaked outside of government agencies, but he would wait until the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions conducted an internal probe before commenting further.

“There’s an investigation that needs to be undertaken, and if that shows that that’s the case ... obviously that would be completely unacceptable and action would need to be taken,” he said.

“You’d appreciate I’m in a position at the moment where that investigation’s continuing.”

The Australian last month revealed Sydney detectives had been running an extraordinary criminal investigation since late last year into the leak of potentially legally restricted material relating to the Aboriginal child to 2GB host Ben Fordham.

The detectives were tasked with probing allegations that the leak was motivated by an ODPP staffer in a bid to damage the reputation of judge Penelope Wass SC, who had been critical of the conduct of chief prosecutor Sally Dowling SC.

NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC. Picture: NewsWire

Cybersecurity officers during their investigation formed the belief that a member of the ODPP media unit took a photo of an intranet page that included the details of the matter relating to the underage defendant. The image was then leaked to 2GB.

The contents of the image, which included the full name of the underage defendant, was reported by Fordham, who slammed Judge Wass for having “in my humble opinion, a shocker” when she invited the child to perform the cultural ceremony prior to sentencing.

Fordham did not report the defendant’s name.

NSW police this week confirmed the investigation had concluded and no criminal charges had been laid. The matter was referred back to the ODPP for a “non-criminal” probe.

Attorney-General Michael Daley on Thursday refused to answer questions about the leak, saying he was “not going to comment on police investigations”.

This was despite numerous attempts from The Australian to point out to him that the police investigation into the matter had concluded.

NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley. Picture: NewsWire

After repeated questions, Mr Daley finally conceded he would be concerned if the ODPP had leaked information about a member of the public.

“Of course leaks from government departments and government agencies are not helpful, so yes I would be (concerned),” he said. “But we don’t know that yet, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

The 2GB story aired the day after the ODPP had been asked questions by The Australian about an article with the full details of a formal complaint, later dismissed by the NSW Bar, lodged by Judge Wass against Ms Dowling, in which she alleged the DPP had tried to “exert influence” over the ­judiciary.

The Australian understands the child gave the Welcome to Country as a relevant part of his evidence, and Judge Wass sought and obtained the parties’ consent to take the evidence.

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.

An ODPP spokesperson on Wednesday said the office was considering whether any staff member breached its code of conduct in leaking the information to 2GB.

“Following notification from the NSW police that their investigation has concluded and that no charges will be laid, the ODPP will consider whether there has been any breach of its code of conduct and take such action as may be ­appropriate,” they said.