Bligh tells police to meet CMC deadline on Doomadgee case

ANNA Bligh says Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson must meet a CMC deadline to take action against police over the Doomadgee case.

ANNA Bligh says embattled Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson needs to comply with a deadline set by the state's anti-corruption body to take action against police over the Mulrunji Doomadgee death inquiry.

Six officers were adversely named in the Crime and Misconduct Commission's report on the “flawed” investigation into Doomadgee's death in custody.

The Premier said this morning she expected Mr Atkinson to take seriously the recommendations of the CMC for disciplinary action against six officers, including two senior men he hand-picked to review the biased initial investigation into Doomadgee's 2004 death in the Palm Island lockup.

Speaking to reporters in Brisbane, Ms Bligh said the CMC had exposed very serious flaws in the original investigation, and “shortcomings” in the subsequent internal police review of it.

Ms Bligh is also fending off opposition accusations that she misled state parliament over the government's decision in February to announce that Mr Atkinson would be reappointed to a further term as police commissioner, eight months ahead of time.

She said she had relied on advice from Police Minister Neil Roberts, who had spoken to CMC boss Martin Moynihan 45 minutes before the announcement, and believed he had secured Mr Moynihan's agreement.

The CMC chair, however, today issued a statement reaffirming his belief that he was “told” of the appointment, and had made no comment on it, partly because he was new in the job at the time and was not aware of the legal requirement for the government to consult the CMC.

Ms Bligh said she would have shelved the announcement had she or Mr Roberts had any inkling that Mr Moynihan had a problem with it.

She had subsequently discussed the reappointment of Mr Atkinson with Mr Moynihan in April, and he raised no concern.

Asked if the CMC chair had agreed to Mr Atkinson's reappointment, Ms Bligh said today: “That is what he said to me at the time we met in April.”

Later, Ms Bligh rejected suggestions that either Mr Roberts or Mr Moynihan had lied about their conversation regarding the reappointment of Mr Atkinson.

Instead, she described the discrepancy in their accounts as a “genuine misunderstanding” that she was at a “loss to explain”.

Ms Bligh described the CMC chief as a “man of great integrity” and said Mr Roberts was as “straight as the day is long”.

Since that February conversation, she said Mr Moynihan had been involved in discussions with the government about the terms of Mr Atkinson's contract.

Ms Bligh said she believed Mr Moynihan had agreed to the reappointment, a belief reinforced by the fact he had been an active participant in the contract negotiations.

She said the CMC report on the Doomadgee affair did not reflect well on any of the parties involved in the investigations.

The agency has warned Mr Atkinson that it would move to launch disciplinary proceedings against the police it had cited if Mr Atkinson did not take action, to its satisfaction, within a fortnight.

Mr Atkinson said today that may not be possible because of procedural constraints.

But Ms Bligh said she expected Mr Atkinson to act on the CMC recommendations “within the timeframe” set by the agency.