Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

Other states have them. In Queensland it’s called the Criminal Justice
Commission, set up in the wake of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, and it’s already
claimed ministerial scalps. In Perth, the Corruption and Crime
Commission has dispatched one minister and named three others. In
Sydney, Premier Nick Greiner established an Independent Commission
Against Corruption, only to be its first big victim when its investigation
forced his resignation in 1992. But according to SA Attorney-General
Mick Atkinson and Police Commissioner Mal Hyde, SA has no need of
one.
Mr Atkinson says police bodies themselves and the Auditor-General are
adequate.
‘Firstly there is the Anti-Corruption Branch ... then there is the Police
Complaints Authority ... thirdly the Auditor-General has powers to
investigate impropriety in public office and finally, individuals have the
protection of the Whistleblowers legislation if they wish to raise allegations
of corruption,’ his spokesman said.
Mr Hyde similarly says police can investigate corruption against police.
The president of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties, Terry
O’Gorman, takes another view. ‘The tired old system of police
investigating police simply doesn’t work,’ Mr O’Gorman told The
Independent Weekly. Mr O’Gorman has been awarded an Order of
Australia for services to the legal profession. He’s a nationally respected
voice on the issue.
‘There’s a very, very strong case to be made that states which argue against
an independent body to investigate police corruption have their heads
buried in the sand,’ he said. ‘In the aftermath of the gangland killings in
Victoria, where three or four people in the drug squad have been tried
and jailed, the experience in WA and in Queensland proves the case for
such a body is clear. In fact, these are now just two jurisdictions - SA and
the Northern Territory - which don’t have one’.
Shadow Attorney-General Isobel Redmond said this week: ‘In the past the
Liberal Party has not been convinced of the need for such a body in SA.
However the performance of the Rann Labor Government has convinced
us that this proposal should be revisited.’
Meanwhile, South Australia’s multi-billion dollar marijuana crop is a
national leader not just in price and quantity, but in quality. ‘The potency’s
gone up,’ says Stickypoint’s Tim Wells. ‘In the old days you’d get a bad of
sticks, stems and leaves. You’d end up with more headaches than highs.
Science and technology’s now come up with different variants.’
Some people say comparing yesterday’s hooch with today’s head is like
comparing beer with vodka. ‘The spindly old plants aren’t around any
more,’ says one of Adelaide’s estimated 98,000 home growers. ‘The yields
have increased enormously, and so have the THC levels.’
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