Queensland DNA lab bid to silence whistleblower

Senior managers of Queensland’s forensic testing laboratory discussed writing a letter of complaint to a top university in a bid to silence a whistleblowing scientist, records suggest.

DNA expert ­Kirsty Wright is a visiting fellow at Queensland University of Technology. Picture: Liam Kidston

Senior managers of Queensland’s forensic testing laboratory discussed writing a letter of complaint to one of Australia’s top universities in a bid to silence a whistleblowing scientist who exposed alleged ­testing failures at the lab, records suggest.

Documents tendered in a royal commission-style inquiry show how management appeared to move to ­silence DNA expert ­Kirsty Wright, a visiting fellow at Queensland University of Technology, days after she called for the lab to be shut down.

Dr Wright last year teamed up with The Australian’s Hedley Thomas on his investigative podcast series Shandee’s Story and, through extraordinary dedication, uncovered testing problems at the lab that could affect potentially thousands of criminal cases.

Her discoveries prompted police to immediately begin questioning results coming out of the lab and led to the eventual retesting of thousands of crime scene samples, which have already helped detectives identify an accused killer and an alleged rapist.

On November 25, Dr Wright called for the lab to cease testing immediately, warning that problems with the DNA profiling process “has the potential to be the biggest forensic disaster in Australia’s history”.

But within days of Dr Wright’s revelations being published, senior lab managers appeared to be ­devising ways to silence and downplay her concerns. In a ­December 1, diary note ­obtained by the inquiry investigating the lab, team leader Paula Brisotto wrote of plans to send a letter of complaint to QUT, where Dr Wright is a visiting fellow.

“Break of CofC (code of conduct),” the note reads. Under the heading “actions”, Ms Brisotto also wrote down intentions to ­refute claims and make a “legal ­request to determine if ­liable”.

Ms Brisotto gave evidence to the inquiry on Friday where she was repeatedly pressed over lapses in her recall by counsel assisting and the commissioner, Walter Sofron­off KC.

The remainder of her evidence, including cross examination, has been delayed until later this month after she sought legal representation independent of Queensland Health. An internationally renowned scientist and former head of Australia’s DNA database, Dr Wright said she did not make allegations of testing failures lightly.

“I’d thoroughly looked through many hundreds of documents very carefully, I re-read them and I made sure I did my homework because I think a statement like that could be incredibly damaging if it was wrong,” she said.

“But I think the only thing that could possibly force the authorities to take this seriously is for me to come out and risk my reputation, my career, my financial security.

“If I had taken a softer approach, I don’t think we’d be where we are now.”

Dr Wright said she was “shocked and disappointed” to read Ms Brisotto’s diary note.

“It appears as though they were trying to destroy my career and reputation,” she said.

“It is clear they were grasping at straws because they couldn’t refute what I was saying in a scientific way and couldn’t attack me because of my professional record at Queensland Health, so they are trying any other way to damage me or stop me.

“It is really quite sad and pathetic,” she added.

Spokespeople for both QUT and Queensland Health would not confirm if the letter was sent because the inquiry is still underway.

Two days before Ms Brisotto made her diary note, another lab manager, Justin Howes, wrote to the department’s HR managers about using the public service code of conduct against Dr Wright, who had not worked at the DNA lab since 2007.

Other documents, obtained by The Australian under Right to Information, reveal a push from forensic executive director Lara Keller to stop other whistleblowers talking to Thomas.

In an email on November 26, Ms Keller reminded staff they were bound by the public service code of conduct and “should not offer comment, interview or enter into correspondence or discussion with media representatives about our work”.

Senior scientist Sharon Johnstone emailed lab colleagues in late November: “Unfortunately papers write stories to sell more papers, or to promote their podcasts and not necessarily to be seekers of the facts”.

Thousands of DNA samples from murder and rape cases, which were ignored by the lab for years, will be retested as a result of grave concerns being aired in Shandee’s Story.

Hearings resume on Monday.