Queensland Crime & Missconduct Commission
MEDIA RELEASE
DATE: 22 April 2004
CMC Reports on Lockhart River Wine Investigation
The Crime and Misconduct Commission has found no evidence of official misconduct by the Premier, the Director-General or the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy,
in relation to the presence of a bottle of wine on a Queensland Government aircraft at the Lockhart River airport in March this year.
Lockhart River is a restricted area under the Liquor Act which generally means that no alcohol may be taken into a public place in the area.
Allegations were made by Ms Teresa Mullan, a former adviser to the Minister, that the Minister and the Director-General had been aware of the presence of the wine and had misled police about their knowledge of it.
It was alleged the Premier and Minister gave untruthful accounts in public concerning their knowledge of the presence of wine on the aircraft.
The CMC today advised the parties of its findings after thoroughly examining the events from the point of view of whether official misconduct took place. All critical interviews were conducted under oath.
The Commission concluded that the following allegations made by Ms Mullan were unsubstantiated:
„« that the Premier and Minister gave untruthful accounts in public concerning their knowledge of the presence of wine on the aircraft;
„« that the Director-General and the Minister misled police concerning their knowledge of the presence of wine on the aircraft;
„« that there was political interference in the police investigation; and
„« that there was official misconduct associated with the offer of employment to Ms Mullan in the wake of her dismissal.
The CMC did not investigate whether any offences had been committed under the Liquor Act as this was handled by the Queensland Police Service.
The CMC has been advised by the Commissioner of Police that he is of the opinion that there was no offence under the Liquor Act. The CMC agrees with the Commissionerˇ¦s view.
The CMC has found no evidence of any criminal offence or official misconduct by any person.
There is evidence which, if accepted, would indicate that four officers gave misleading information to the police about the wine but in light of the decision of the Commissioner of Police and for the other reasons given in the report, the CMC has not recommended disciplinary action against these officers.
This media release and the full report are available on our website:
www.cmc.qld.gov.au
Further Information:
Stewart Sommerlad ˇV Manager, Media and Communications
Ph: 07 3360 6344 Mobile: 0407 373 803 Fax: 3360 6235