Key events
Nino Bucci
More on the Victoria disclosure case from Nino.
In relation to issues about disclosure in the case exposed by Guardian Australia, a spokesperson for Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions said that these obligations were shared with investigators and prosecutors, and that generally “the role each party plays in assessing whether all relevant material has been disclosed will depend on who has possession of the information”.
But Liberty Victoria said it appeared clear that more needed to be done to ensure compliance with these obligations, given the state’s anti-corruption commission had also recently urged the force to improve its practices. Its president, Michelle Bennett, said:
Victoria Police should learn from the criticisms it has received in respect of its disclosure obligations, rather than repeat its mistakes.
The ongoing disclosure issues are familiar to those practising in criminal law and the example reported in The Guardian will not come as any surprise to them.
In Liberty Victoria’s view, it is time that the Government introduce legislation for there to be serious consequences for police officers and prosecutors who fail to disclose relevant evidence.
Calls for disclosure laws after case exposed by Guardian Australia
Nino Bucci
Liberty Victoria says failures in the proper disclosure of evidence by Victoria Police that were uncovered by Guardian Australia show the state government should introduce laws to protect against similar injustices.
In a statement, the civil and human rights organisation said it was deeply concerned by Guardian Australia’s reporting regarding the botched police investigation into the murder of Aguer Akech.
Guardian Australia found that flaws in the case led to a 15-year-old boy spending a year in custody before the murder charge against him was dropped.
Liberty Victoria president Michelle Bennett said:
Liberty Victoria is deeply concerned by recent reports in The Guardian of a 15-year-old child being charged with murder and remanded in custody for almost a year on the basis of fundamentally flawed evidence in circumstances where police had failed to disclose relevant and exculpatory evidence.
The case highlights ongoing issues of Victoria Police failing to properly abide by its duty of disclosure. Disclosure is of fundamental importance in every case, however it is gravely worrying that Victoria Police failed to abide by their obligations in circumstances where a child was being held in custody as a result of, in Justice Hollingworth’s words, a “corrupted process”.
These reports raise many questions about the standards that we as a community should expect and demand from criminal investigations and prosecutions. Disclosure of all evidence — regardless of whether it assists the prosecution or not — is a fundamental and basic right of every member of our community who is investigated or prosecuted for a criminal offence.
Victoria Police said in relation to disclosure in the case that it treated these matters with the “utmost importance” and ensured all employees complied with their legal obligations.
We also acknowledge that this can be a time consuming process during any investigation. In relation to this matter, advice was sought on a number of occasions from the [Victorian government solicitor’s office] and a significant amount of time was required to undertake redaction of a large amount of material.
New Zealand’s prime minister says “in my dealings with Australians it always pays to be incredibly simple”.
The quip by National party leader Chris Luxon came in response to questioning from Labour opposition leader Chris Hipkins over the government’s use of the Maori language, known as te reo Maori.
This week, broadcasters TVNZ revealed the culture minister Paul Goldsmith instructed officials to remove several te reo expressions from an invitation to Matariki, the annual celebrations of the Maori New Year.
The invitation was bound for Tony Burke, Australia’s multicultural affairs minister.
The Maori words included the greeting “tena koe” (meaning hello), the sign-off “naku noa, na” (which became ‘yours sincerely’), and the removal of the widely-accepted Maori name for New Zealand: Aotearoa.
Te reo is an official language of New Zealand, along with sign language and the de facto English, and increasingly spoken by Maori after decades of decline – in part due to hostile government policies.
Luxon’s right-leaning coalition has reduced its use in government since taking office last November.
Goldsmith said he didn’t think Mr Burke would know what Aotearoa meant.
“It’s hardly the scandal of the century. I just didn’t think it needed a lot of te reo in it … I thought, let’s just keep it simple,” he said.
In parliament on Wednesday, Hipkins included Goldsmith’s letter in a line of questioning to Mr Luxon around ministerial standards.
“Well, I would just say to that member, we value te reo in this government,” Luxon said.
“The correspondence was being directed to an Australian minister overseas and what I’d say to you in my dealings with Australians, it always pays to be incredibly simple and clear and use English.”
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories before my colleague Emily Wind takes over.
Our top story this morning is that the New South Wales environment watchdog has vowed to crack down on the waste industry after tests found asbestos at seven of 13 facilities producing or handling cheap landscaping products. A Guardian Australia investigation revealed earlier this year that similar tests in 2013 and 2019 found potentially contaminated products had been distributed across the state. More coming up.
A Guardian investigation this week into Victoria police’s mishandling of the murder of 17-year-old Aguer Akech has prompted calls for the state government to introduce laws to protect against similar injustices. Liberty Victoria said this morning it was “gravely worrying that Victoria police failed to abide by their obligations in circumstances where a child was being held in custody as a result of, in Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth’s words, a “corrupted process”. More coming up.
Ocean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef are now the hottest in at least 400 years and are an “existential threat” to the planet’s unique natural wonder, according to a report in Nature. Scientists analysed long-lived corals in and around the reef that keep a record of temperature hidden in their skeleton and matched them to modern observations. The “existential threat” to the reef from the climate crisis was “now realised”, the scientists wrote, and without ambitious and rapid cuts to greenhouse gas emissions “we will likely be witness to the demise of one of the Earth’s natural wonders”.
And New Zealand’s prime minister has made a quip in parliament about the intelligence of Australians that didn’t go so well. The National party leader, Chris Luxon, said “in my dealings with Australians it always pays to be incredibly simple”. More on that soon.