Legislative Council
9 February 1999 
 

 
POLICE, COMPLAINTS

 In reply to Hon. IAN GILFILLAN (27 November 1998).

The Hon. K.T. GRIFFIN: The Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services advises that at no time was the matter relating to Mr Forsythe dealt with internally by the former Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services. Mr Forsythe initially contacted the Minister's office via telephone on 9 September 1998. Mr Forsythe supplied brief details of his concerns and stated that the Police Complaints Authority were unprepared to listen to him. This statement in itself suggested that the validity of Mr Forsythe's complaint may be questionable.

South Australia Police advise that they received the initial enquiry from the Minister's office and conducted preliminary enquiries regarding this matter. A minute was supplied to the former Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services. It indicated that the information which police were acting on was extremely reliable given the successful outcome of investigations resulting from previous information supplied to police concerning Mr Forsythe. It was also believed by police that Mr Forsythe may have been attempting to use the Minister's office as a mechanism to identify the informant. This minute was forwarded to the Minister's office without the knowledge that further information had been supplied directly to the Commissioner of Police and forwarded to the Police Complaints Authority for assessment.

For reasons of confidentiality and protection of the informant the reply to the Hon I Gilfillan was considered at the time to be appropriate. The former Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services was not aware that information had been subsequently supplied to South Australia Police and that the information had been forwarded to the Police Complaints Authority. The correspondence directed to the Hon I Gilfillan was not intended to be a ‘brush-off' letter but merely a common sense reply given the information available to the former Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services and the South Australia Police view that there was a genuine need to protect a reliable police informant.

The Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services and the former Minister do not prejudge the outcome of a Police Complaints Authority or Internal Investigation Branch inquiry. At no stage was there any intent on the part of the former Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services to do this. He was merely acting upon the initial information received from Mr Forsythe and the explanation and advice provided by South Australia Police in response to that information. Both the present and former Minister for Police, Correctional Services and Emergency Services and South Australia Police are fully supportive of the role of the Police Complaints Authority.

  
  
[Home]    [SA Head Office]    [SA Branches]    [What's Hot in SA]    [Mike Elliott]    [Sandra Kanck]    [Ian Gilfillan]   [SA Senators]   [SA Parliament]    [Contact Us]    [News Releases]    [National Site]    [Election]    [Support Us]    [S.A. Links]     [Newsletter]     [Browse by Subject]