Brough's small target strategy at work?

https://youtu.be/7AM5XR7K0kU

The Guvmin Gazette on 6 December 2015 attempted to put the best spin possible on what MP for Fisher Mal Brough was required by precedent to do:

Special Minister of State Mal Brough has asked for a $108,000 pay cut and to move from a ministerial suite to a backbench office as he stands aside from his post while the Australian Federal Police ­investigate him for any wrong­doing in the Peter Slipper affair.

Malcolm Turnbull announced last week, on the same day as junior minister Jamie Briggs’s resignation, that Mr Brough would step aside from his ministerial ­duties pending police inquiries into the alleged 2012 illegal copying of the official diaries of the then Speaker Mr Slipper.

Mr Brough wrote to Speaker Tony Smith on the day of the ­announcement requesting the ministerial component of his ­salary not be paid from that day and for the 

allocation of an office in the House of Representatives wing.

“Mr Brough’s requests were communicated to the Department of House of Representatives on the same day, and appropriate action is being taken to action them,” a spokesman for Mr Smith said.

Mr Brough’s ministerial salary of $307,329 will drop to a backbench salary of $199,040.

The Australian has also been told Mr Brough has relinquished ministerial entitlements, including a mobile phone…..

One has to wonder if the interview, media release or phone call to journalist which is the likely trigger to this newspaper article is part of Brough’s strategy to make himself the smallest target he can manage ahead of the start of the 2016 parliamentary year, when more questions about his past conduct are bound to be raised with the Prime Minister by the Opposition.

BRIEF BACKGROUND

Questions by Mark Dreyfus MP Labor Oct 2012 - Dec 2015

Speech by Graham Perrett MP Labor Nov 2015

Coal seam and tight gas miner Metgasco Limited sets out on a deliberate collision course with Northern Rivers communities yet again

Coal seam and tight gas miner Metgasco Limited sets out on a deliberate collision course with Northern Rivers communities yet again and, just as before, it intends to drag the NSW Government and police along for the ride.

The Sydney Morning Herald 24 April 2015:

Energy company Metgasco says it will need police to escort gas drilling equipment onto its site on the NSW north coast following a court victory overturning a suspension imposed on it by the state government.

Chief executive Peter Henderson said protesters would return to the site at Bentley once the company seeks to start drilling in about three months' time.

"When we drill now we know there are going to be protesters and we will need police in there to uphold our rights," he said.

"Otherwise NSW will be the state of anarchy."….. [my red bolding]

The Northern Star 24 April 2015:

PROTESTERS will continue to fight Metgasco at Bentley even if the State Government passes legislation banning protests at drilling sites, Ian Gaillard says.

Mr Gaillard, of Gasfield Free Northern Rivers, said locals would not allow Metgasco to start drilling at Bentley and called on the State Government to revoke all gas licences…..

Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis has also expressed his unhappiness with the decision.

"I am extremely disappointed with the decision of the NSW Supreme Court to quash the decision of the NSW Government to suspend Metgasco's drilling licence at Bentley," Mr Gulaptis said.

"I will be urging the Minister to seek every opportunity to appeal this decision because I believe it is wrong."….

Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan says it would be "foolish" for Metgasco to consider returning to the region, adding the legal avenues over their licence suspension are far from exhausted.
Mr Hogan said he had been in touch with state colleagues who were already in talks with Resources and Energy Minister Anthony Roberts about grounds for an appeal. He said he was "extremely disappointed" by the news.
"We do not want CSG in the Northern Rivers and we need to do everything we can to make sure that is what happens.
"This isn't over, while they may be feel happy with the decision today, I don't think it's over legally and it's certainly not over as far as them coming back into our community to do what they want to do."
Mr Hogan added it would be "quite foolish" for Metgasco to consider returning to Bentley in the near future.
"I think this community has shown very strongly that they do not want coal-seam gas in this region," he said.
"While they have won this court case, there are still legal options for the state government to take, and the first one would be an appeal.
"I think the suspension should remain until that appeal is heard."

 Lismore City Mayor Jenny Dowell on Twitter:

Excerpt from NSW Greens media release 24 April 2015:

Greens Member for Ballina Tamara Smith said, “Despite the court victory, Metgasco should heed the clear message from the community that they want a gas field free Northern Rivers.  Metgasco should pack up and leave. “If Metgasco try to drill again, the community will resist and I will be standing with them.

The Knitting Nannas Against Gas (KNAG) on Facebook, 25 April 2015:

Excerpt from an editorial in The Northern Star, 25 April 2015:

If past history is anything to go by, protesters will likely be setting up camp at Bentley in the very near future.

So are we back to square one on this issue? Or has the government's election results on the Northern Rivers taught them any lessons?

Considering the government trumpeted its buy back of CSG licences during the last election campaign, perhaps they should extend it to the licence that covers Bentley.

Otherwise we are in for more of the same.

Another blockade at Bentley and the government forced to make the difficult decision of sending hundreds of police officers north, at taxpayers' expense, to remove thousands of protesters.

The NSW Supreme Court has delivered a sharp rebuke to the government which is going to cost them a lot of money.

But the circumstances that led them to the suspension still remain.

Comments published in The Northern Star on 25 April 2015:

Lynne Stebbing: There is going to be trouble!

Hugh Nicholson: This decision only relates to the way the government went about suspending Metgasco's license.

It has nothing to do with the reason for the suspension - namely Metgasco's failure to consult with the community. Go away Metgasco.

From Land Water Future tweet on 24 April 2015:

UPDATE

The Northern Star 27 April 2015:

Bentley landowners Meg and Peter Nielsen believe that if energy company Metgasco returns to the region public resistance will be even stronger than it was at last year's blockade.

"It will be on for young and old," Mr Nielsen declared.

"Our resolve will never turn. Metgasco would be absolutely foolish to try it again."

But the couple believes the NSW Government will "see common sense" before it comes to that.

Knitting Nannas' three year long yarn outside pro-CSG MP's office in Lismore continues

The NSW North Coast Nationals never learn.

At the 28 March 2015 state election they lost one of their safe seats, Ballina, and suffered a 19.6% swing to Labor in Tweed, a 22.4% swing to Labor in Clarence and a 22.5% swing to Labor in Tweed where Thomas George only survived on preferences - yet they tried to flex their political muscle on the one issue that saw so many voters walk away from the National Party at the ballot box.

NSW Police confront Knitting Nannas: Image from @LockTheGate 10 April 215

The Northern Star 9 April 2015:

A group of 10 nannas had yesterday just settled in to their usual positions on the pavement outside Mr George's office yesterday when they were approached by a group of police who informed them the act was illegal.

Eltham Knitting Nanna Judy Summers said she was told by a senior policewoman the group "had no reason to be here as CSG is done and dusted".

The police left after issuing a warning that the group would face more serious action if they returned next week.

But Ms Summers vowed the group were "not going anywhere" and were seeking legal advice over the issue.

"I told her it is not done and dusted; until both licenses are cancelled we will continue to be here," Ms Summers said.

"We are not obstructing the pathway."….

The Knitting Nannas [should] move their weekly protests from Thomas George's office to the boat sculpture at Molesworth Street, Lismore Nationals president John Barnes has said.

Speaking on ABC Radio this morning, Mr Barnes said he was against CSG but the Nannas were a "nuisance" and they should move to "the HMAS Jenny Dowell", referring to the sculpture.

"I don't care what they are protesting for, if it is CSG or the man on the moon," Mr Barnes said.
"They should give the streets back to the people.".....

Later the same day:

THE GREENS NSW coal seam gas spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham wants to know if the government has an agenda to 'shut the Nannas down'.

Following ABC reports that suggested National Party members initiated the confrontation between police and Knitting Nannas on Thursday at their usual knit-in in front of Thomas George's office, Mr Buckingham today called on Deputy Premier Troy Grant to clarify whether his party and government wanted the Nannas shut down.

The 'post-election police crackdown', according to Mr Buckingham is 'a ridiculous attack on the democratic right to peaceful protest'.

What happened two days later was entirely predictable.

Image from @CSGFreeNR 11 April 2015 

The Northern Star 11 April 2015:

POLICE moves to stop the Knitting Nannas against Gas staging protests outside Lismore MP Thomas George's office have spawned a huge outcry since the group was told they were breaking the law on Thursday.

But was it a planned move to shut down the regular "knit-ins" - or a case of mistaken identity?

Knitting Nanna Clare Twomey said the Nannas may have been "implicated by association" over a complaint from another protest - not involving the Nannas - during which a female employee of Thomas George's allegedly injured herself while trying to avoid bags of manure.

Local police were not answering questions on the matter yesterday and the Nannas said they had legal advice their protests were within the law.

Ms Twomey said the group had also received overwhelming public support, and the police intervention had only served to fire them up.

Just as predictable was the public slapdown later on that same Saturday of John Barnes by his leader, who is understandably nervous about the party's poor showing at the recent election.

Anti-gas group the Knitting Nannas Against Gas are welcome to continue their regular "knit-ins" outside Lismore MP Thomas George's office NSW Deputy Premier and Nationals Leader Troy Grant has said.

Mr Grant has today issued a statement demanding Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham apologise for suggesting the government wanted to get rid of the Nannas.

The statement follows a furore over a police visit to the Nannas on Thursday, where officers told members of the group they would have to stop their protests outside Lismore MP Thomas George's office.

He said Mr George was out of the electorate when the complaint was made and he had no involvement in it or knowledge of it.

       

                                Go the Grans! 

Coal Seam Gas miner Santos still under the spotlight concerning sponsorship of Queensland Police

The debate on mining company sponsorship of Queensland Police continues......

Photograph showing Queensland Police vehicles attending NSW Pilliga protest

 against Santos CSG drilling: ABC News 7 April 2015

ABC News 7 April 2015:

The fact that the police refused to name the sponsors, indicates that the police hierarchy know they have a vulnerability.

President of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties Terry O'Gorman

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart says he is standing by his decision not to release the names of private companies who have sponsored the police service.

Mining companies, banks, media organisations and security firms are among a raft of sponsors behind almost $475,000 in donations to the Queensland Police Service last financial year.

The donations for this financial year are on track to reach the same level.

The ABC first asked for a list of sponsors and the sponsorship amounts four months ago, after environmentalists alleged it was a conflict of interest.

The QPS executive has now provided two lists of donations and a brief description of the programs, but the names have been withheld.

Speaking on 612 ABC Brisbane this afternoon, Commissioner Stewart said the sponsorship arrangements were within the official policy and were a benefit to both the community and the sponsors......

BACKGROUND

The Courier Mail 9 December 2014:

Santos said there was nothing untoward in the sponsorship deal, in which the vehicles attend public functions like caravan and camping shows.

A Santos GLNG spokesman said the claims were ridiculous.

“This is just one of our many investments that contribute to safety in regional Queensland, which also include the CareFlight aeromedical evacuation service used by the general community, the Rural Fire Service, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and road upgrade programs,’’ he said.

“We have been supporting the Stay On Track Outback safe driving campaign since 2012.

ABC News 8 December 2014:

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said Santos was one of a string of sponsors for the campaign, aimed at tourists with caravans on remote roads.

Mr Stewart said Santos had contributed about $40,000 to the program.

NSW North Coast police make mockery of traffic accident attendance criteria

On 15 October 2014 NSW Police changed its criteria for attending traffic accidents.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Command - NSW Police Force:

Police on the NSW North Coast have apparently refined this criteria further.

On the morning of 13 January 2015 a Yamba resident, reporting what was a head-on crash on a badly cambered bend in a town road was told by police that only accidents where a person was injured would be attended by officers.

Apparently this is how local police are interpreting the NSW Government’s so-called drive to reduce red tape.

Now this would possibly be a worry-free policy adaptation if all accidents on the North Coast occurred through no fault on the part of drivers due to adverse road/weather conditions, but there is a glaring hole in how this three month old directive is being implemented on the ground.

In effect it means that it there will be drivers who were speeding and/or intoxicated who will escape being held legally accountable for their unlawful actions and the property damage they inflict, because North Coast police are refusing to come to crash sites unless they are specifically told a person has been injured.

If the person contacting police fails to mention a suspicion that a driver may have been drinking or speeding or the police fail to ask that question at the time, then dangerous drivers will begin to feel invulnerable – which may eventually have fatal consequences.

What could possibly go wrong when the Abbott Government is creating Fortress Australia to protect us all from a veritable host of 'terrors'?

When the Abbott Government’s wider surveillance powers were passed by the Senate, the Australian public was being assured by both major parties that the sweeping ‘anti-terrorism’ legislation had built-in safeguards which would protect us all from over reach by intelligence agencies and police.

The good citizens of Tacoma in Pierce County, Washington, United States probably thought they were protected too. After all, didn’t the police need to get a warrant from a Superior Court judge?

The News Tribune article of 15 November 2014 shows just how easily a mockery can be made of surveillance laws:

Pierce County judges didn’t know until recently that they’d been authorizing Tacoma police to use a device capable of tracking someone’s cellphone.

Now they do, and they’ve demanded that police change the way they get permission to use their so-called cell site simulator.

From 2009 to earlier this year, the county’s Superior Court judges unwittingly signed more than 170 orders that Tacoma police and other local law enforcement agencies say authorized them to use a device that allows investigators to track a suspect’s cellphone but also sweeps cellphone data from innocent people nearby.

In August, the assistant chief of the Tacoma Police Department told The News Tribune that investigators never deployed the device — a cell site simulator, commonly known as a Stingray — without court authorization.

The newspaper since learned police never mentioned they intended to use the device when detectives swore out affidavits seeking so-called “pen register, trap and trace” orders allowing them to gather information about a suspect’s cellphone use and location…..

Neither the pen register orders nor the affidavits filed by law enforcement mentioned that police had a Stingray or intended to use it.

Instead, detectives used language commonly associated with requesting an order that would force a cellphone company to turn over records for a particular phone, and, where possible, the real-time location of the phone…..

The News Tribune 17 November 2014:

The Tacoma Police Department, which owns the Stingray, did not want to reveal it to the public. The FBI, which provided it, was leaning on the city to keep the technology secret. As a result, the judiciary that monitors investigations for constitutional abuses wasn’t aware of the kind of surveillance it was authorizing. However noble the motives, this was subterfuge….

But a Stingray — which employs technology known as cell site simulation — is so much more intrusive than conventional surveillance that it demands extra scrutiny. It pulls in cellphone transmissions from all callers in a given area and identifies the unique signatures of each phone…..

This could get spooky in a hurry. The Pierce County Superior Court now has another safeguard in place: Police must sign affidavits that they will not store data on people who are not targets of the investigation…..

Think this example of over reach is too far removed from Australia to matter? Think again…..

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on what is already occurring in Australia on 7 July 2014:

Australian federal and state police are ordering phone providers to hand over personal information about thousands of mobile phone users, whether they are targets of an investigation or not.

Fairfax Media has confirmed Australian law-enforcement agencies are using a technique known as a "tower dump", which gives police data about the identity, activity and location of any phone that connects to targeted cell towers over a set span of time, generally an hour or two.

A typical dump covers multiple towers, and mobile providers, and can net information about thousands of mobile phones.

The dumps are usually used in circumstances when police have few leads and can be a useful, powerful tool in tracking down criminals. But privacy advocates say that while they may be helpful to police, they also target thousands of innocent people and don’t have any judicial oversight.

In addition to no warrant being required to request a tower dump containing the mobile phone data of thousands of people to track down one or more criminals involved in a crime, privacy advocates also question what is being done to the data collected once an investigation is complete….

Sometimes NSW Police make me cringe in shame - Part 2

New Matilda 16 October 2014:

Four police officers will stand trial over allegations they bashed an Aboriginal man, who was originally falsely charged with assaulting a constable before CCTV footage cleared him during the incident on the NSW north coast in 2011.

Constable Lee Walmsley, Constable Ryan Eckersley, former Sergeant Robert McCubben and Senior Constable Mark Woolven will stand trial after waiving a right to a committal hearing at the Downing Local Court, the ABC reported today.

They have pleaded not guilty.

It follows an incident involving the then 23-year-old Corey Barker in Ballina on January 14, 2011.

Mr Barker was arrested after intervening in an altercation between two of his friends and police.

He was originally charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer after being taken to Ballina Police Station, charges which were overturned when the restored CCTV footage, previously believed to be damaged, unveiled a different version of events.

Ballina Local Court Magistrate David Heilpern overturned the charges, ordered the NSW Police pay Mr Barker’s costs and referred the matter to the Police Integrity Commission.

The PIC handed down its report in 2013, recommending criminal charges for six of the officers involved. The ABC reported a total of 25 charges were laid against the officers. A fifth officer will also waive his right to a committal hearing.

The trial will start in 2015.

Sometimes NSW Police make me cringe in shame - Part 1 here.

I spy with my little eye.....

Apparently NSW Police has been spending part of its annual budgets on surveillance malware programs which will remotely infect the computers/mobile devices of its preferred target individuals.

In today’s money that is well over $2 million for the five licenses which are currently active.

Wikileaks Spy Files

The company FinFisher (part of the Gamma Group headquaqtered in Munich, Germany) obligingly supplies this description of FinSpy:

While FinIntrusion allows NSW Police to do the following:

The Australian Federal Police will neither confirm nor deny that is also using this malware.

On 6 August 2014 Netzpolitik reported that:

A hacker claims to have hacked a network of the surveillance technology company Gamma International and has published 40 gigabytes of internal data. A Twitter account has published release notes, price lists – and source code. Malware researchers and human rights activists welcome the publication, Gamma itself refuses to comment.

In November 2012 a public service announcement prepared by the US Government Internet Crime Complaint Center identified FinFisher as supplying malware and spyware capable of taking over the components of a mobile device. When installed the mobile device can be remotely controlled and monitored no matter where the Target is located. FinFisher can be easily transmitted to a Smartphone when the user visits a specific web link or opens a text message masquerading as a system update.

Gamma Group’s Martin Münch/Muench with exploit seller VULPEN’s CEO & Head of Research Chaouki Bekrar

July 2014 

Source: Netspolitik

Despite the police having accquired a number of new 'toys', Australian government requests for user data held by Google Inc continue:

"We now also know that long-suffering NSW taxpayers were going to be footing the bill to keep this industry alive, with no plans for Metgasco to be charged"

The Northern Star 23 July 2014:

Government documents have revealed up to 800 police officers were to be sent to Bentley from May 19 to "ensure public safety" and enable Metgasco to move its drill rig on to the site.

And Metgasco wouldn't have been charged for the police operation, scheduled to continue until June 7....

Senior government officials warned the safety risk to the public and police during the installation of the drill rig would be "high to extreme".

The situation was described as an "unprecedented public order challenge" requiring a "significant deployment of police officers".

The information was released under the Government Information (Public Access) Act….

A NSW Police Force briefing also identified "many risks", including a "catastrophic" risk of litigation.

Greens MP David Shoebridge said the documents showed the NSW Police force was to be "used as an exceptionally powerful and expensive private security operation for a resources company".

"Any accountable democratic government would take that as a sign the industry should not go ahead," he said.

"We now also know that long-suffering NSW taxpayers were going to be footing the bill to keep this industry alive, with no plans for Metgasco to be charged."

NSW Police & coal seam gas miner Metgasco Limited's response to the Glenugie protest revisited - judgment transcript

Excerpt from Magistrate Heilpern’s October 2013 judgment in Police v Rankin; Police v Roberts [2013] NSWLC 25 which decided prosecutions were permanently stayed:

Collateral Purpose

82 The defence contend at paragraphs 15 to 21 of their submissions that the prosecution has been instituted for a collateral purpose. They submit that a question arises as to whether the prosecutions are being pursued for a political aim, given the high profile issue of CSG in the community. The defence further submit that the prosecution may be as a result of embarrassment by "Sydney" over the visiting specialist unit police and their failure to comply with LEPRA.

83 It is correct that the courts will not usually look behind the reason for a prosecutorial discretion. However, this is an exception to that situation. The applicants have 'fair and square' laid out their concerns relating to these matters in their submissions. Two solicitors have prepared lengthy affidavits replete with attachments to support this application. The response from the prosecution is to simply point out that there is no evidence beyond mere conjecture. To an extent that is true - there is no smoking gun that proves political interference or specialist squad intervention. However, nor have the police chosen to dispel these suggestions with any evidence, or any alternative scenario that does not involve collateral purpose. The informant has not filed any evidence to explain why the new charges have been laid, and had they, any cross-examination may have shed light on this issue. There is nothing in submissions which dispel the applicants' contentions. In particular, there is nothing from the informant to explain why his superiors determined to withdraw the charges, and he then instructed another prosecutor to run a different matter.

84 In my view, the burden on the applicant relating to a collateral purpose may be shown by inference. In this case I find myself asking "what could possibly be the reason for continuing on with such an 'innocuous' charge in these circumstances?" Whilst suspicion is not enough, what else is the court to conclude when the prosecution offers no other alternative to the issues raised by the applicants? Why else would the police risk a costs order against them in the original matters which were withdrawn (which could run into the many tens of thousands of dollars), drive a prosecutor up from Sydney to run the matters, arrange police witnesses to travel from Sydney all for an 'innocuous' minor traffic matter.

85 The defence is correct that the CSG issue is political, to say the least. The arrests in this case are just one set of many, and the defendants who have come before me are generally over 50 years, well educated with a fair smattering of farmers and professionals. It is in that context that the realistic suspicion of political interference arises.

86 My mind has wavered on this issue. There is suspicion, and there is a lack of any other rational purpose. However, I have formed the conclusion that I am not satisfied to the requisite degree that the prosecution in the fresh matters has been launched for a collateral purpose. Accordingly, I do not take into account the matters raised by the applicants on this issue.

Full transcript can be found here.

Police Association appears to believe the that the NSW Police Commissioner's response to the Bentley Blockade is not carefully planned

Coal seam gas/tight gas miner Metgasco Limited's little helpers at  http://pansw.org.au/node/1942:

Circular No. 19 Operation Stapler (Bentley Gas Project)

7th May 2014
Circular No. 19

Operation Stapler (Bentley Gas Project)

Under normal circumstances an operation of this magnitude would require a considerable period of careful planning. Unfortunately, the planning for this operation is constrained by a far shorter timeframe.

Your Association has been meeting with the Northern Region Commander and his staff to ensure the Industrial and WHS conditions of our members are met. This is a work in progress and we are continuing to consult with the NSWPF.

Members should be aware of the following entitlements as per our Award Crown Employees (Police Officers- 2013) Award.

Accommodation:

Where available, members are entitled to be accommodated in three star/three diamond accommodation. The Association has been advised that this standard of accommodation has been sourced in Ballina, Lismore and Casino .If you are not accommodated in at least 3 star accommodation on this operation, please advise your Association ASAP.

Meals:
When members are required to perform duty at a temporary work location, you are entitled to be compensated for expenses incurred for meals and incidentals. The Association has been advised that you will be supplied suitable meals during shift and be paid a meal claim for off duty meals. If the meals supplied are not suitable or if you are not paid your meal or incidental claim, please advise your Association.
Breakfast: $22.30 Lunch: $ 25.45 Dinner: $43.85 Incidentals per 24 hours: $18.20

Hours of Duty:
Members are entitled to two rest days in seven or four rest days in fourteen. If you are not provided with this, you are entitled to the cancelled rest day penalty.
Members who work more than seven “b” shifts in a 21 day period are entitled to the excess “b” shift penalty.

The Association has been advised that members will be working eight hours shifts with travelling time and overtime. These shifts will be morning, afternoon or night shifts. We have been advised that members will work the same type of shift when deployed to minimise fatigue and rostering issues. The normal length of deployment is seven days in the field with travel either side. Please advise your supervisor if fatigue is an issue.

Facilities:
The NSWPF has obligation under WH&S to provide certain facilities even at temporary work locations.This includes facilities for decontamination, toilets, stand down areas, shelter, and appropriate uniform and personal protective equipment. The Association has been advised that these facilities have been sourced. Any WH&S issues should be raised with your supervisor in the first instance. If unresolved, please contact your Association.

Association Contacts
Your Association will have two Organisers at the Operation. They will be in attendance for the induction. Mobile numbers of the Organisers will be supplied at the induction. Branch Officials are asked to make themselves know to the Organisers as a point of reference in the field.

First Response and other duties:
The number required to be deployed on this operation may affect the capability of LAC to meet First Response Agreement. Please advise your local branch officials of any breach use the First Response Non Compliance Form available at our website or by calling the office to notify the Association of all first response breaches.

You can contact the Association on 9265 6777 or though the DOI outside normal business hours. Email: info.centre@pansw.org.au
 

Scott Weber

President

Quote of the Week

“A police operation is planned to take place at Bentley to both facilitate a lawful protest and ensure normal operations at the gas exploration site” [NSW Police spokesperson quoted in The Daily Telegraph on 30 April 2014 explaining the intention to use riot police against a peaceful demonstration at Metgasco Limited’s Bentley ‘tight gas’ drilling site]

Not good enough, Premier O'Farrell and Police Commissioner Scipione

A Freedom of Information application by Richard McDonald dated 20 January 2014 has revealed that NSW Police officers had six hundred and fifteen individual criminal convictions ranging from assault causing actual bodily harm, malicious injury, drug possession, motor vehicle theft, fraud, culpable driving, high range PCA drink driving, speeding, domestic violence and much more recorded against their names - either before joining, during training or once they were deployed as serving officers.

A shocking statistic, which ABC News calculates as 1 in every 40 NSW police officers having criminal records.

20 January 2014 GIPA Document Listing Criminal Convictions Held by NSW Police Officers

Metgasco Limited, then NSW Minister for Resource and Energy Chris Hartcher & Co, NSW Police and those missing letters

The plot thickens concerning the anti-coal seam gas protests at Glenugie on the NSW North Coast.

The Greens (NSW) Media Release

"Missing" letters from Metgasco finally released

12th March 2014 5:33 pm

Four "missing" letters from Metgasco Ltd to Government Ministers have finally been released indicating what Greens MP David Shoebridge has long been speculating, that a high level of political interference took place during police protest operations at Glenugie last year.

Metgasco CEO Peter Henderson wrote to the then Minister for Resource and Energy, now ICAC embroiled, Chris Hartcher as well as the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure Brad Hazzard, Minister for Police and Emergency Services Michael Gallacher and the Attorney General Greg Smith requesting "greater legal reinforcement" for their operations.

Henderson also expressed concern about the "excessively lenient legal system" and its "unwillingness" to harshly penalise activists with "anti-development agendas." Henderson's suggestion to the Government in how to deal with protesters was to impose mandatory sentences.

The content in these letters now raises questions as to why the Government failed to hand over these documents following numerous GIPA requests lodged by David Shoebridge.

Both former Minister Hartcher and Police Minister Gallacher advised in a GIPA (FOI) Notice of Decision that no information or documents existed relating to these protests, and upon further GIPA requests only one of the letters was released.

Greens NSW MP and Police Spokesperson David Shoebridge said:

"What we have now are documents being released that the Government bizarrely denied having any record of in the first place.

"These letters not only indicate a clear directive issued by the Metgasco's CEO, but that the Government actually obeyed.

"The charges against these protesters were thrown out in court and we see now were only laid following direct political interference.

"It is simply unacceptable for resource industries to be effectively directing the operational activities of police in NSW." Mr Shoebridge said.

Four letters and attachments dated between December 2012 and February 2013 are now available online which Metgasco Limited asserts are the missing letters.

In these letters (below) Metgasco Limited requests more police to secure its Northern Rivers drilling sites, complains that police were initially not prepared to arrest protesters, complains about the lenient legal system, and, requests mandatory sentencing of any protester arrested at its drilling sites and found guilty of an offence.

Letter bundle includes an unsigned statement by a contractor which has not been witnessed and is unverified.

Subsequent to the commencement of this correspondance the NSW Public Order and Riot Squad was sent north to attend Metgasco's Glenugie drilling site and, in total an estimated 159 local, regional and other area police officers worked approximately 3,234 hours during the protest operations.

Letters from Metgasco Limited CEO Peter Henderson to NSW Government Ministers between December 2012 and Feb...

Will NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione risk another heavy handed political move against Northern Rivers anti-coal seam gas protestors in 2014?

Local landowners & others prepare for the arrival of Metasco at its Rosella-1 well site in early 2014

In 2013 Magistrate David Heilpern publicly took NSW Police to task over charges laid against coal seam gas protestors at Metgasco Limited’s Glenugie site.

Does NSW Police Commissioner Scipione want the world to see more media coverage similar to this because he was persuaded to do the bidding of a coal seam gas exploration company which to date has produced not a cent in profit for its investors or the State of New South Wales and is never likely to?

The Northern Star 6 November 2013

"In this case I find myself asking what could possibly be the reason for continuing on with such an innocuous charge in these circumstances? Why else would police risk cost orders against them, drive a prosecutor up from Sydney to run the matters, arrange police witnesses to travel from Sydney, all for an innocuous minor traffic matter. "It is in that context that the realistic suspicion of political interference arises," he said.....

Metgasco Limited is a mining exploration company which after fourteen years still has no social contract with local communities on the NSW North Coast, a spotty safety record and an unhappy shareholder base.