Wrecking by stealth

As soon as premier Baillieu said Vic's Charter of Rights could stay, the leaks began as to how costly it is ... Government seeks votes with law 'n' order agenda ... Some lessons are never learned ... C7 judgment gave an interesting insight into the commercial and legal morality at News Ltd ... Move along, nothing has changed ... Peach Melba's blog 

Victorian Libs strategy for success

The Victorian Charter, it seems, is safe. Or safeish.

It has been only days since premier Ballieu confirmed he no longer plans to disown the statutory baby of the former Labor AG Rob (F#@%ing) Hulls.

Plenty of legal eagles in the Law Institute of Victoria & Ors were convinced that AG Robert Clark was lining-up his ducks and was about to start taking pot shots.

But, it was never going to be a very good look - that is, Victoria would possibly become the only jurisdiction in the world to put a charter of human rights in place, only to repeal it.

My intelligence suggests that the only other jurisdiction to fall into this category is Fiji, but that involved a full constitutional overhaul, so a somewhat different kettle of fish. Possibly there's Nigeria as well.

Basically, a charming tiny collection of upstanding nations. 

However, some Libs are livid that they can't get their wrecking ball through the charter of rights and so the leaks are underway, although the revelations are barely scandalous enough to elicit even a raised white eyebrow from a certain expatriot hacker.

Indeed, is not $1.8 million spent on educating police officers about their responsibilities under the charter not money well spent? 

Hating on crims: it's just not the Victorian way

Instead VicLibs have turned their mind to winning votes the old fashioned way: turning hate on criminals.

Some Doogie Howser Tory came up with the excellent idea of an online survey about sentencing.

After showing some early social media promise, AG Clark has not tweeted since March 27, so he obviously thinks the online world is a great place for exchanging ideas or gauging public opinion.

This little prank has earned widespread condemnation from lawyers, judges and prosecutors alike as possibly the worst idea ever since Mr Stevenson decided to open a ginger beer factory.

The literature is damning. 

Speaking of the costs associated with law and order the Productivity Commission reckons each inmate costs almost $88,000 a year, versus $7,000 for a community corrections order.

So longer jail terms and mandatory sentencing can be pretty tough on the old purse strings. And just imagine what kind of training of law enforcement officials you could be doing with those savings?

Not if this government have anything to do with it. 

Nothing new at News: journos and lawyers in the Victorian underbelly

Rupert Murdoch may only ever visit Melbourne on the way to see his mum, but this gritty little town has been something of a spiritual heartland for his Australian empire as the home of that stunning scripture of journalist integrity, the Herald Sun.

I wonder whether the untimely death of a certain baby face killer, so uniquely captured by the industrious and insightful journos at the Hun, might have involved some of the tactics seen over in the old Dart.

Of course, Oz reporter Cameron Stewart's relationship with the police is certainly interesting and should soon get more interesting.

He had the scoop on a police raid before it actually happened and now Detective Senior Constable Simon Artz is in the dock. 

Not that you know too much about that from reading the local News' press in this town.

The magistrate hearing the Artz case is being made to wait until next year to get to the bottom of the scandal, because apparently Bill Stuart, counsel for the copper, isn't readily available.  

But there is something even better to share about those morally pure folk at News.

"Forgive your enemies," suggested JFK, "but never forget their names."

It's been a while since anyone has remembered the C7 case - Seven Network Ltd v News Ltd. Seven alleged anti-competitive conduct on the part of News Ltd, PBL and Telstra in contravention of ss 45 and 46 of the Trade Practices Act. 

The court considered the evidence of the chief general counsel of News Ltd, Ian Philip. Sackville J let rip:

"At the conclusion of the hearing, I asked whether Mr Philip was still employed by News and was told that he was. If, in the meantime, News has taken no action against Mr Philip in respect of his admitted dishonesty, it would reflect very seriously indeed on News' standards of commercial morality." 

Ouch. Can anyone guess whether he still has the job?

A culture of dishonesty that reflects seriously on commercial morality identified by a judge nearly ten years ago at News Ltd, and not a whisper from the Law Society of NSW or, god forbid, News itself.

Don't fret: Harto's running a fine tooth comb over the last three years. Move along, folks, nothing new at News to see here.