ATO corruption case

[sptrawler]

This ATO corruption case, involving the assistant commissioner, is getting interesting.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/mich...ps-on-144m-ato-tax-fraud-20170621-gwvlh7.html

 

[SirRumpole]

Funny that details of the case are being leaked before the trial.

It might provide grounds for a plea by the defense of not being able to get a fair trial.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Funny that details of the case are being leaked before the trial.

It might provide grounds for a plea by the defense of not being able to get a fair trial.

I'm sure that's happened in the past. Would do well to have friends in the media who can create such a scenario.

 

[McLovin]

Funny that details of the case are being leaked before the trial.

It might provide grounds for a plea by the defense of not being able to get a fair trial.

The media can report police charges and allegations before a case proceeds to court. Contempt of court is usually only when the media starts to show prejudice in its reporting. There is plenty they are not saying, either because they haven't been told by the police (unlikely) or because they don't want to be in contempt.

 

[qldfrog]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06...-almost-died-from-stress/11167954?pfmredir=sm
Why is the Ato above the law in this country?and we complain against Russia or China

 

[moXJO]

We were talking about the wringing that whistleblowers go through on another thread. Once again the reality:

"I feel like I almost died from the stress. I feel like they almost killed me and were trying to kill me," he said."

And thats the ATO doing it.

 

[sptrawler]

Well the case took a major turn today.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10...-ato-whistleblowers/11631448?section=business

 

[mullokintyre]

Well the case took a major turn today.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10...-ato-whistleblowers/11631448?section=business

Richard Boyle is still facing significant charges, despite having followed the required procedures in reporting alleged malfeasance to the ATO, then to the Inspector general for taxation.
It was only after theses procedures failed he went public.
It might be argued that just because he believed that the previous two interactions were fruitless, he still broke the law in going public.
But that is the point of the Whistleblower laws.
Internal investigations are always going to be subjective, usually on the side of the organisation.
The Mark Dreyfus rightly demanded that the Feds drop all court cases against Bernard Collaery following the spying allegations against Timor Leste, at the very minimum it should be doing the same against Boyle.
People who blow the whistle on perceived wrong doing should not be presecuted unless the state can prove it was malicious or based on a pecuniary interest at best.
From ABC News

Kieran Pender, a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, called the decision "a major blow for Australian democracy".

"Whistleblowers should be protected, not prosecuted – and the Public Interest Disclosure Act was enacted to ensure just that," Mr Pender said.
"The court's decision that Boyle's whistleblowing on wrongdoing within the Australian Taxation Office was not covered by the PID Act shows that the law is utterly broken."
Mr Pender said the whistleblowing laws enacted by Mark Dreyfus when he was Attorney-General in 2013 had failed.

He said the decision underscored the urgent need for law reform "to ensure whistleblower protections are real and don't just exist on paper".

"The Attorney-General should prioritise comprehensive reform to the PID Act and the establishment of a whistleblower protection authority," he said.

"Whistleblowers make Australia a better place and our laws need to reflect that."

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the decision showed "how deficient the federal Public Interest Disclosure Act is".

"Mr Boyle would never have been in this position if we had strong whistleblower protections in place," he said.

Mick