Lawyer X: end looms for special investigator

New Lawyer X special investigator appointed – but there’s a twist that senior police and Nicola Gobbo will like.

Lawyer Nicola Gobbo, aka Lawyer X.

A new Lawyer X special investigator has been quietly appointed by the Andrews government to oversee the ‘‘decommissioning’’ of the office following its controversial collapse.

In the strongest sign yet that senior police will escape criminal charges over the scandal, public servant Sean Morrison was appointed to lead the Office of Special Investigator on August 2.

The appointment was not publicly announced aside from a brief mention in parliament by Legislative Assembly Speaker Maree Edwards, who notified the house the next day that she had “administered … the affirmation” to Mr Morrison under the Special Investigator Act 2021.

Mr Morrison’s appointment is the latest development in a scandal that involved police recruiting leading gang war defence lawyer Nicola Gobbo – dubbed Lawyer X – to spy on her clients and help ­implicate them in drug dealing and murders.

In a statement on Friday, the Labor government confirmed Mr Morrison would oversee the ‘‘decommissioning’’ of the OSI. ‘‘The government will shortly introduce legislation to parliament to formally cease the OSI’s operations,’’ a spokesperson said.

The scandal, which police tried to keep secret, triggered a royal commission in 2018 and led to the establishment of the OSI to investigate criminal charges against Ms Gobbo and police officers for perverting the course of justice, perjury, misconduct in public ­office and other offences.

Former High Court judge Geoffrey Nettle, KC, resigned as the Lawyer X special investigator three months ago after simmering tensions between his office and Victoria’s top prosecutor Kerri Judd, KC, exploded.

In an unprecedented eruption of public hostilities between the powerful legal figures, Mr Nettle tabled a special report to parliament in June revealing the DPP had blocked OSI moves to have multiple police officers charged over their roles.

In his special report, Mr Nettle threatened to resign and recommended the OSI be shut down ­because of Ms Judd’s refusal to lay charges on behalf of the OSI.

‘‘I had concluded that the chances of director approving Charlie (an OSI investigation into multiple police officers) or any other charges that OSI might ­submit were now effectively nil, which made it a waste of time and money for OSI to persist,’’ Mr Nettle told parliament.

In the special report, Mr Nettle revealed he had recommended to Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes that the OSI be ‘‘wound up’’ ­because of the failure of the DPP to prosecute any of its cases.

‘‘I advised the Attorney-­General that, in those circumstances, any further investigation of relevant offences by OSI ­appeared to me to be a waste of time and resources and I ­believed that the appropriate course was to recommend to parliament that OSI be wound up,’’ he said.

Mr Nettle has since resigned his post, and The Weekend Australian believes most, if not all, of OSI staff have also ­finished up.

The Andrews government had ordered the royal commission in late 2018 into the actions of Victoria Police, which had secretly recruited Ms Gobbo, to inform on her gang-war clients including drug lord Tony Mokbel, from the 1990s to around 2009.

Nicola Gobbo with Gangland boss Carl Williams and underworld hit man Andrew “Benji” Veniamin. She was hosting the Crown Casino christening of Williams’ daughter, Dhakota.

The Lawyer X royal commission cost taxpayers an estimated $39.5m; Victoria Police spent another $60m defending its actions; and so far the OSI has cost $25m.

Mr Nettle reveals in the special report that the OSI investigated one senior Victoria Police officer – who is not named – and wanted to charge them, saying the evidence ‘‘would sustain a charge against at least one senior police officer of misconduct in public office committed by knowingly failing to report, investigate and prosecute offences of attempt to pervert the course of justice’’.