AFP has ‘questions to answer’: Calls for Royal Commission and Federal ICAC to lift lid on ‘secrecy’

Calls are mounting for the urgent establishment of a Federal ICAC with power to investigate law enforcement officials following damning claims about the AFP.

Former Australian Federal Police officers, anti-corruption organisations and civil liberties groups are calling for the urgent establishment of a federal Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that also investigates law enforcement officials.

It comes after revelations by New Corp Australia over the AFP’s handling of claims two alleged mafia assassins were behind the murder of former Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester and allegations a senior law enforcer is under investigation over his alleged links to mafia groups spanning decades.

“One of the major problems with the AFP over the years has been secrecy,” Dr Michael Kennedy, a former NSW police detective and former head of the University of Western Sydney Bachelor of Policing, said.

“Corruption occurs because of bad governance. They have been allowed to get away with secrecy and to an extent that has worked”.

Another former agent said a public inquiry is needed because otherwise the “only people who end up burnt are the whistle blowers”.

Centre for Public Integrity director Geoffrey Watson SC.

The Centre for Public Integrity’s director Geoffrey Watson SC, said the revelations are so serious and the matter so urgent “nothing less than a Royal Commission should suffice”.

Mr Watson said this may yet be “the way to get to the bottom of the death of one of Australia’s most senior police officers”, as well as the jailing of an Australian for a murder (for which he was later acquitted), and corruption at the highest levels with links to the most serious organised crime groups in Australia.

“There is also the question of how long the AFP has been sitting on it?” Mr Watson said.

He said the investigation is too big and burdensome for a Federal ICAC, and the watchdog the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) is not active enough.

“The whole time in ACLEI’s history it has never had any public hearings, and it needs public hearings.”

A spokesman for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus was aware of the allegations but declined to comment further.

“This is entirely a matter for the ACLEI, we’ll leave it at that,” the spokesman said.

An AFP spokeswoman said they have not reopened previously closed files into the Winchester assassination.

“There is no evidence to suggest Italian organised crime was responsible for the death of one of our own, Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester.”

“Any new information or intelligence is obtained it will be evaluated.”

She said the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity has the power to investigate alleged corruption into a range of law enforcement agencies, including the AFP.

President of the NSW Civil Liberties Council Josh Pallas.

NSW Civil Liberties Council President, Josh Pallas, said he would not be opposed to an inquiry into the AFP.

“There have been some strange things going on, and the AFP appears to have some questions to answer,” Mr Pallas said.

“I completely support, and in fact expect, that the draft bill concerning a federal ICAC would ensure that the commission can investigate corrupt conduct arising from any law enforcement agency…,” he said.

“Failure to include law enforcement agencies within the scope of agencies that the commission can investigate would put it out of step with many state models which clearly include them within the scope of their commissions’ powers.”

Greens Senator and Justice Spokesman David Shoebridge said “if you want a case study into why we need a Federal ICAC with unlimited retrospective powers then this is surely it.”

“Corruption allegations linked to the mafia that stretch back more than three decades raise deep and ongoing integrity risks for Federal Crime agencies,” Mr Shoebridge said.

“This is the very kind of (alleged) systemic and damaging corruption that a new Federal ICAC needs to take on from day one.”

Independent MP Dr Helen Haines. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Independent MP Dr Helen Haines, who has been a leading voice for a Federal ICAC, said “this investigation highlights the importance of an independent commissioner having the ability to investigate allegations without limitations on how far back they can examine.”

Transparency International retiring CEO Serena Lillywhite said at the Press Club in December, the lack of a federal integrity commission is a gaping hole in Australia’s integrity framework.

“It is the most important piece of legislation we need, right now, to restore public trust in our democracy,” Ms Lilywhite said.

Ray Cooper.

Former AFP internal affairs officer Ray Cooper, who investigated corrupt cops in Sydney in the late 1980s said the secretive Harrison inquiry in the 1990s into alleged corruption within the AFP was a white wash, with the findings never made public despite seven AFP officers sacked and other allowed to leave with a “golden handshake”.

Mr Cooper, until his death a year ago, consistently called for a major investigation into the AFP.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has ordered the Commonwealth drop the prosecution of lawyer Bernard Collaery after he was charged by the AFP with conspiring to release classified information about an alleged spying operation in East Timor.

Mr Dreyfus has said one of his first tasks would be setting up the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) with no limits to become operational by mid-2023.

Originally published as AFP has ‘questions to answer’: Calls for Royal Commission and Federal ICAC to lift lid on ‘secrecy’