The attacks on Mr Moselmane began months before the raids, with journalists and shock jocks being backgrounded to demonise him. Sky News’ Peta Credlin broadcast “If we really have foreign agent laws, why isn’t Moselmane being looked at?” She knew very well that he was being lined up. Another leak by his opponents. Another crime which will go uninvestigated. Not much moral courage to be seen.
Stuart Rees’ article about the woefully shabby treatment of Mr Shaoquett Moselmane deserves to be widely read. Rees wrote about the need for moral courage both in personal relations and more broadly. Moral courage is a surprisingly rare but extremely precious commodity in our polity and our society. The media hails sports stars and military people as heroes. The true heroes are those who demonstrate moral courage.
Rees’ article shows the woeful lack of moral courage demonstrated by NSW Opposition Leader, Jodi McKay in relation to Mr Moselmane. She rushed to distance herself and the Labor Party from Mr Moselmane at the first suggestion that ASIO and the AFP were raiding him in relation to the iniquitous and sinister sounding foreign interference laws. Regrettably such a knee jerk reaction has become pretty standard for Labor leaders. They are reduced to quivering jelly by the very mention of ASIO or security. But even having had all this time since the raids to reflect, and having heard from the AFP that Mr Moselmane was never a suspect nor a person of interest, the best McKay could say was that she welcomes him back to the NSW Parliament and to the ALP, but: “If new information arises in the future, I will be prepared to take appropriate steps.” With leaders and colleagues like McKay, Mr Moselmane should look elsewhere if he craves loyalty and moral courage.
A frequent deplorable modern phenomenon that was seen in the raids on Mr Moselmane is the media scrum accompanying the raid – obviously tipped off by the AFP or ASIO or both or their political or bureaucratic masters. Not just tipped off, but also given background briefings with all sorts of material which would never be admissible in a court and which will inevitably be very adverse to the person raided – both to their general reputation and to their prospects for getting a fair trial. For example, the Sydney Morning Herald’s report of the raids said: “One intelligence community insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media said multiple warrants had been acted on in NSW in an attempt to gather evidence about the alleged plot [by the CCP to influence Mr Moselmane and others in Mr Moselmane’s office]. A second source with knowledge of the inquiry said it had begun as a narrow ASIO probe but dramatically widened.”
Michaelia Cash’s media adviser paid with his job for tipping off the media to raids on the Australian Workers Union by the AFP. Those raids were designed to embarrass then Federal Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten. In that case, the Federal Court determined that the investigation of the AWU was invalid because there were “no reasonable grounds” for the investigation. In the aftermath of those raids, Cash infamously hid behind whiteboards, was a no-show at her own media conferences, and failed to attend to make statements to the AFP about the tip offs. The tip offs were so well organised that the media turned up for the raids even before the AFP did.
The tandem media scrum/raid phenomenon is deplorable because it is such an effective media stunt which falsely says that the target of the raid – whether it is the AWU or Mr Moselmane or whoever – is guilty of whatever crime the media has been tipped off – and backgrounded – about. For example, hundreds of thousands of people would have concluded – quite wrongly – from the media reports of the raids that Mr Moselmane was guilty of the terribly sinister crime of undermining Australia’s security by foreign interference. Having ASIO involved in the raids makes them so much more newsworthy and sinister sounding than just a police raid.
The tandem media scrum/raid phenomenon is also deplorable because it goes entirely against the fundamental foundations of our criminal justice system. The police (and in recent times, also ASIO) have powers to compulsorily collect information and evidence where they reasonably suspect that a crime has been committed. That information, if on examination it appears to be legally admissible and sufficiently persuasive, might form the basis of a brief to the Director of Public Prosecutions, with a request that the DPP examine the brief. The DPP might, if she concludes that the brief demonstrates that a crime has probably been committed and which can probably be proved beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law, might take it to a committal hearing. The committal will decide if there is a strong enough case for the matter to go to trial before a jury. After all those processes, if the case is strong enough to survive, a jury will decide on the guilt or innocence of the accused person.
It follows that the media circus which has been orchestrated by the AFP or ASIO or Michaelia Cash’s office or whoever is a quite improper attempt to con the public into believing that all those processes after the raid are just window dressing. The tandem media scrum/raid phenomenon is a deplorable contempt of the criminal justice process and should be stamped out as being a contempt of court.
It’s only now – five months after the highly publicised raids on Mr Moselmane – that a few people who read obscure articles in the non-mainstream media learn that the AFP has said that Mr Moselmane was never a suspect nor a person of interest. It is a gross injustice to Mr Moselmane. Beyond gross.
Very likely offences are being committed by the people who are tipping off the media about these matters (“One intelligence community insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media”). We all know that the chances of anything being done about those offences are nil – unless the Federal Opposition or a major union has reason to take up the cudgels, as in the Cash/AWU/Shorten case. Jodi McKay won’t say boo to this goose. Not even if it were a day old bantam.
Rees’s article suggests that the attacks on Mr Moselmane began months before the raids, with journalists and shock jocks being backgrounded to demonise him. Sky News’ Peta Credlin broadcast “If we really have foreign agent laws, why isn’t Moselmane being looked at?” She knew very well that he was being lined up. Another leak by his opponents. Another crime which will go uninvestigated. Not much moral courage to be seen.
Lawyer, formerly senior federal public servant (CEO Constitutional Commission, CEO Law Reform Commission, Department of PM&C, Protective Security Review and first Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security; High Court Associate (1971) ; partner of major law firms. Awarded Premier’s Award (2018) and Law Institute of Victoria’s President’s Award for pro bono work (2005).
Comments
11 responses to “It is a gross injustice to Mr Moselmane. Beyond gross.”
Rees has lost all credibility when he resorts to the same dogma as those he criticises with his closing claim of “intolerance of dissent common of the communist China” Is this a pathetic grovelling to show his allegiance to Australia to avoid becoming a victim of the same attacks as those meted out against Moselmane. Rees is ultimately of the same feeble minded nee dogmatic tradition as those he attacks.
“The tandem media scrum/raid phenomenon is a deplorable contempt of the criminal justice process and should be stamped out as being a contempt of court.”
Agreed Ian, but asking our esteemed AG to do anything about it is to ask him to act against his own interest.
Just reading in disbelief the AFP apparently said “that Mr Moselmane was never a suspect nor a person of interest”. To quote my teenage children “Say what ?!”.
The fact this happens in Australia is appalling and in some ways, behind the claimed high pulpit of ‘the free world’ more heinous and worrisome than the behaviour of the country and its system being targeted. Whilst not condoning their system, at least in China, we and its citzens know what to expect.
Earlier this year and for the first time ever in my over 70 years of life – I joined a new political movement: The New Liberals – determined that when in power (having ousted the pretty much “Me, too!” duopoly) there will be gaol time for all the politicians who have in any way rorted their positions for personal gain (hi, Daryl M; Joe H. et al), been cruel to citizens – and to refugees/asylum-seekers (hello Scotty, the suppository-of-wisdom, Peter D and you know who else) multiple-times generous to vested interests (scarcely any Minister at state or federal level who misses out on detention here and those who sent our troops to faraway wars of no threat to us except to fawn upon the US – thereby allowing the gun(g) ho among our SAS to become murderers (looking at you – little Johnny – and the nation-builder (via massacre support) Downer – Ruddock and Vanstone too… The persecution of Mr Moselmane demands a public apology from Morrison PM, from Charles (Christian) Porter A-G, from Berejiklian, from Jodi McKay – on the front pages of all newspapers! We are living in an ever increasingly dangerous state for anyone with an opinion beyond the mainstream narrative: US=Good/Other Powers – to be cattle-prodded. One despairs. The quality of most politicians nowadays (I did write most – I see some gold amidst the dross) is absolutely woefully anti-citizen. Thanks yet again Ian C for your clear and ethical writing. Just this week having seen our PM fly to Japan off his own bat – nothing to do with any national mandate – to commit exchanges of troops (I am think of Afghanistan) and of course to do his best to offload one of the energy fuels we should in fact be getting out of ourselves. What an atrocious business.
Not a problem, Barney. Here’s a good trivia question: what links ‘power tends to corrupt’ and ‘j’accuse’?
Lord Acton got there first, Anthony. The whole quotation, seldom used, is even more enlightening: ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.’
Sorry, Peter; didn’t see you beat me to it till I posted.
Acton was an ardent liberal, and this, his most famous dictum, reflects the doctrine of one side in British politics at the time, whose aim was to reduce the power of the monarchy in favour of themselves.
First, thank you to Stuart Rees and Ian Cunliffe for their analysis of this issue. It is informed, astute and valuable.
Second, what does it say about the independence of the AFP generally that they indulge in these stunts, and in particular, that it took so long for them to admit that Mr Moselmane was never a suspect or person of interest. These tactics by the AFP and / or others undermine the rule of law generally, not just in particular cases.
We often question the use of power in an authoritarian or totalitarian regime. George Orwell’s Animal Farm suggests, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It simply means the more power and control one has over the other, but then more corruption is possible for that person. Is our democracy heading towards Orwell’s prophesy?
Actually Anthony, it was actually Lord Acton, the 19th century historian who coined the phrase, though you are absolutely right that Orwell used it. More importantly, definitionally no one in a democracy can hold absolute power. Are we seeing areas of decline? Yes, there you and I can agree.