The Australian Federal Police union says officers have been unfairly portrayed as “Liberal lapdogs” amid the fallout from the mistrial of Bruce Lehrmann.
The Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) told Crikey on Friday morning it had reported the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to a Canberra watchdog following suggestions police acted inappropriately during the investigation, and that the union would join calls for a judicial inquiry into the matter.
“People are accusing the AFP of being Liberal lapdogs,” AFPA media and government relations manager Troy Roberts told Crikey.
Crikey can also reveal the matter has been referred to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, a federal police watchdog that has oversight of ACT policing.
That information was revealed in a response from ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury to a question about whether he would support a public inquiry into the case.
“I am aware the matter has been referred to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity. As such, it is not appropriate to comment further at this time,” Rattenbury said.
The comments came in the wake of the mistrial of Lehrmann for the alleged rape of colleague Brittany Higgins in then-defence minister Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019. Lehrmann denies the allegations.
The public fight between the police union and DPP Shane Drumgold erupted after a recent report in The Australian revealed a senior police officer on the case believed there wasn’t enough evidence to go to trial.
Drumgold disagreed and charged Lehrmann with one count of sexual intercourse without consent, prompting a high-profile trial that was abandoned after weeks of evidence because of misconduct by a juror.
Lehrmann pleaded not guilty, consistently maintained his innocence, and denied any sexual activity took place.
On Thursday The Guardian obtained a letter sent by Drumgold to the chief of ACT police in which he complained officers had engaged in a “very clear campaign to pressure” him not to prosecute Lehrmann.
He alleged there had been “inappropriate interference” and that police were “clearly aligned with the successful defence of this matter” during the trial, calling for a public inquiry, according to The Guardian.
The AFPA reacted strongly to the release of the letter.
“We have concerns about his [freedom of information] process, the legality and possible breaches around that,” Roberts said, noting names of officers had been included in the material provided to The Guardian.
“And obviously, Mr Drumgold’s allegations [against police] have to be looked at. The whole incident from day dot to where we are now needs to be looked at.
“Everyone has been left with unanswered questions … this is why we need an inquiry, we need to know who knew what, when.”
Roberts said he doubted that the “highly skilled” investigation team involved, whose members had been “handpicked for their experience”, would have done a “half-arsed job”.
“These were the best of the best … and knowing the scrutiny they were under, they would have done a thorough job,” he said.
He said he felt officers were being unfairly smeared and portrayed as concerned with the politics of the case, and that the union had made a complaint over the FOI material to the ACT Ombudsman on Thursday evening.
The watchdog did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another watchdog, the ACT Integrity Commission, declined to comment on whether it had been contacted in relation to the Lehrmann matter. Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus also declined to comment.
An ACT Policing spokesman said the police force was aware the DPP had asked for a public inquiry and that it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Lehrmann’s legal team responded to requests for comment with the following statement: “Mark O’Brien Legal is acting on behalf of Bruce Lehrmann in relation to potential defamation proceedings over a number of public statements, broadcasts, articles and social media posts concerning the recently discontinued criminal proceedings against him.”
