The Courier-Mail editorial - 22nd February 1999
The Queensland Labor Party's attitude of "let sleeping dogs lie" in relation to the Heiner affair has come back to bite it once again. Former Labor minister Pat Comben has revealed cabinet members from the former Goss government were aware allegations of child abuse were contained in documents from the aborted Heiner inquiry when they ordered the material to be shredded. The Goss Government ordered the Heiner inquiry be aborted and the evidence destroyed in 1990 apparently to protect witnesses from being prosecuted for providing defamatory information to what was said to be an improperly constituted inquiry.
Last year the Forde Inquiry was established to finally investigate allegations of child abuse at state institutions, including allegations that were subject of the Heiner Inquiry but were never properly resolved. The mistreatment of wards of the state should always have been the primary concern of consecutive governments. Now such complaints are being dealt with, it is time to examine conclusively the other important issues surrounding the Heiner affair. Issues of process and political propriety.
Labor's current Youth, Families and Community Care Minister Anna Bligh, who commendably set up the Forde Inquiry, has indicated nothing is to be gained from looking into this matter again. This is unfortunate because further examination is clearly warranted in the interests of ensuring the government and the public service are accountable and that safeguards are in place to prevent the situation from re-ocurring. Two investigations into the Heiner affair have recommended the matter be taken further.
Although the Criminal Justice Commission has been cleared of any wrongdoing in regard to its investigations of the Heiner affair, a question mark still remains. The CJC's repeated examinations of the affair were seen as lacking in detail and an open mind. On three occasions the CJC refused to further investigate reports of abuse raised by a former member of the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre, until the issue was reported in the media.
If the Heiner affair is to be put to rest, a fully independent and thorough investigation into the processes that allowed - and may still permit - such an extraordinary series of events needs to be conducted.