Demise of "nowhere man" Carpenter

Isn't he a nowhere man, living in a nowhere land, making up his nowhere plans, for nobody.
Doesn't have a point of view, knows not where he's going to .....

Did youu have the misfortune of watching Alan Carpenter's retirement announcement on ABC TV last night?

The interview was marked by immaturity and superficiality.

The ALP Caucas gave Jim McGinty the failed former minister a free hand to pick leading lights for safe seats and Carpenter was his fifth choice after five knockbacks.

No person can claim to be grown up if they don't take responsibility for their own decisions. Carpenter blamed everybody except himself for his demise. He followed his own well trodden path of scoring off his colleagues.

When asked to make some comment on his term he could say nothing more profound than he "had a wonderful vision" and he "got rid of Brian Burke, for which he deserved a big tick".

His lament at the loss of superannuation was a far cry from his high profile sanctimony when he self righteously campaigned for its abolition in the first blush of his Parliamentary term. He told some of his colleagues including Kim Chance, that it was" the biggest mistake of my life".

The Desert Rat knew Alan Carpenter and saw him as an abject failure, bereft of ideas to contribute to the ALP and Parliament.

Graeme Campbell got him right, from day one, two decades ago, when he told me he was a pissant.

Archer Charges "Baseless" - More Humiliation for CCC

Roberts-Smith, Silverstone and Ingham disgraced by latest CCC fiacso.

Shelley Archer gave Brian Burke, a copy of a letter that was already public. The letter was given openly by the Shire of Broome and was publically available on the Shire of Broome website. All pealing companies received it except Brian Burkes client - who engaged him because he thought he was being victimised by the Fisheries Department..

The incompetent Corruption and Crime Commission ignored the fact that the letter was publically available and dishonestly claimed the letter was “confidential” – how ignorantly quaint or is the breathless incompetence of the CCC on display again?

The Desert Rat and many others suspected these charges should never have been brought against Shelley Archer and that she should never have been subjected to the ordeal that she has had to face. The DPP conceded in his short press release that there was “no clear evidence that there was any actual benefit to Mr Burke”. That didn't stop her enemies in the Labor Party who have no regard for natural justice.

The CCC ruined Shelley Archer’s political career and reputation; McGinty and Carpenter turned caucus against her and the rest, mostly to their dishonour, followed suite and she was forced out of the Labor Party and out of Parliament by her gutless colleagues.

Labor MP John Ford’s comments on ABC TV the night the charges were dropped that he had no sympathy for her were just disgraceful. The smacked of old fashioned Stalinism. Her secretary Shelley Eaton disowned her and grabbed her seat in Parliament. It would be interesting what Shelley Eaton now thinks about her behaviour to Shelley Archer. Archer was stoically confronted an array of malignant forces and maintained her loyalty to her friends and was ready to take the CCC head on in Court. The CCC denied her the chance to completely demolished the CCC’s credibility.

The Desert Rat holds with contempt these unthinking and spineless types who hunt in packs; like the follower of Stalin or Hitler who did their bidding. These camp dogs and confederates would never be found among the ranks of the partisans standing up and fighting for what is right. They would sell their principles to the lowest bidder. Thirty pieces of silver would be extortion.

The whole episode reflects poorly on those members of parliament that joined in and cheered the public "flogging and hanging" of Shelley Archer. Some of them may well be the next victims of the precedent they have allowed; they have created a flawed system that will consume other innocent people and politicians.

Although these matters did not relate to Smith’s Beach investigation directly, they were a part of the CCC clumsy and dishonest attempt to find evidence of corruption by Brian Burke and Julian Grill, n the sworn enemies of CCC architect the abject failure Jim McGinty. After $50 million wasted by the CCC on the Burke Grill vendetta, it is clear that Grill and Burke most often achieve good for the State in situations where many parliamentary incompetent were too visionless and indolent to aspire.

CCC humiliated again on Smith’s Beach

CCC's Phony Brabazon Charge - Exposed as Grubby Politicking

The grovelling but unreserved apology by Major General Len Roberts-Smith to senior public servant Mark Brabazon underscores the abject failure of the Corruption and Crime Commission and its inability to objectively investigate the Smith’s Beach matter.

It was a case of verdict now and gather the evidence later, even fabricate it if necessary and destroy and “prosecute them through the media. A conviction is just “icing on the cake” to these modern day Beagle Boys.

Parliamentary Inspector Christopher Steytler QC found the reasoning and the “material” (Steytler doesn’t give it the dignity of evidence) in the report did not support the opinion expressed about Mark Brabazon.

Len Robert-Smith’s apology was immediate and he withdrew the CCC’s opinion that Mr Brabazon “acted with a lack of integrity” in his dealings with Mr Brian Burke.

That makes six people against whom the CCC has launched cases, where the CCC charges have been unceremoniously tossed out of Court.

Mike Allen. Was acquitted on two count of giving false evidence in testimony. The CCC lied and omitted facts that didn’t suite them in their report.

David McKenzie. Two charges of giving false evidence dismissed.

Paul Frewer. A concocted misconduct finding was rejected by Parliamentary Inspector Malcom McCusker QC.

Julian Grill. He was acquitted on two charges of giving false testimony in evidence. The Magistrate said he was a witness of truth.

Wally Cox. A misconduct finding was rejected by a Public Service inquiry. The CCC's only win was when Cox (probably on poor legal advice) challenged the CCC right to make a finding. Cox lost. The Judges said the CCC did have the right but stressed the judgment did not reflect on whether the finding was right or wrong. These was no vindication there for the CCC decision - only that they could express it i.e could tell lies.

The prosecutions following the Smith’s Beach inquiry were based on a dishonest investigation involving gross misconduct, of which the Desert Rat is now aware of evidence.

The Brabazon inquiry and report was a Stalinist sham to damage Brian Burke and Julian Grill. Trail by media – hoping the courts would follow suite.

The House of Cards Inquiry into Smiths Beach has already collapsed. The CCC case is in its dying throws – a death tryst of a morally bankrupt organisation that is a weeping ulcer on the justice system of Western Australia.

The Desert Rat’s opinion is that Premier Colin Barnett and the Parliament should give it the last rites.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Julian Grill's phone is still being tapped six years later, by the Robert -Smith and Silverstone entourage. They are still being spied on and photographed. Their mail is being tampered with; email and faxes are examined back at the CCC's own headquarters reminiscent of the Smolny Institute (after it was a school for noble maidens - see picture and statue of Lenin in foreground).

All in the hope that they can find some minor breach that will help justify the $50 million spent on the political witch hunt, curiously targeted at the enemies of McGinty.

Mr Ward's Death - Margaret Quirk's mea culpa

Are McGinty and Carpenter Fred Chaney's real racists?

The continued publicity following the manslaughter of Warburton Elder Mr Ward has prompted this comment. The Desert Rat previously covered this issue when praising the sole public comment from Labor by Labor MP Ben Wyatt.

Fred Chaney is reported to have weeped recently as he talked of Mr Ward's death as an example of entrenched racism in government bureaucracy.

Chaney is no doubt genuine and caring about Aboriginal people but the Desert Rat always thought he was part of the problem and not, part of the solution. Chaney talks often of self determination and Aboriginal control but it seems - never without them accepting any real responsibility for themselves.

Former Prisons Minister Margaret Quirk in a TV interview recently issued a public mea culpa in respect to Mr Ward's death saying she wanted to apologise for

"failing to convince her cabinet colleagues about the need to replace the ageing fleet of prisoner transport vehicles".

This comment suggests Quirk repeatedly asked for the funding in cabinet but got rolled.

This begs the question of who rolled her?

If either of Jim McGinty as Attorney General (and the previous Corrections Minister who jettisoned the department from his AG ministry), and or former Premier Alan Carpenter supported her call for funding, it would have been approved by cabinet.

It would appear that these two idiots were not particularly troubled to see Aboriginal prisoners shipped around the state in vehicles that could double for Pizza ovens on a hot day.

Are these the actual 'racists' to whom Chaney should have directed his remarks? Chaney is quick to criticise the public servants, but those primarily responsible are the politicians in cabinet whose did nothing when they had the opportunity to appropriate the desperately needed funding to replace these death traps.

Chaney's comments should have been directed at McGinty and Carpenter - but he avoids offending them. By the way Fred, how much did you earn Chairing McGinty's Bill of Rights inquiry and in other government sinecures?

Chaney has been on the public tit ever since he left the Senate; he like many other people who the Desert Rat thinks are the architects of the current indigenous mess.

One is entitled to ask: What practical achievements has Fred Cheney helped gain for Aboriginal people to ameliorate their plight?

CCC Monster out of control.

A grubby official CCC leak or are the CCC Tarts serial incompetents?

Anyone would think it was budget time down at the Corruption and Crime Commission, it's apparently leaking like a sieve.

That's not to confuse this latest leak with Mike Children Overboard Silverstone other leaking SIEV 4 (Suspected Illegal Entry Vehicle 4) which also leaked and sank north of Christmas Island. The leaking SIEV4, that he claimed children were thrown overboard by illegal immigrants - a claim now denied and debunked by the Defence Forces.

The leaking of documents from the CCC containing damaging ambit allegations against Hon John Bowler MLA, raises serious questions about the integrity and competence of the watchdog and its procedures.

Earlier the CCC said there would be no further disciplinary action or charges against John Bowler. This back flip after three years of investigation and the current leaks, really underlines the administrative incompetence of Executive Director Mike Children Overboard Silverstone.

The Desert Rat suspects the leak is designed to keep the continuing vendetta against Julian Grill and Brian Burke on the boil and stir up public indignation against Julian Grill and Brian Burke before the forthcoming batch of charges and trials. Is this the CCC desperate attempt to justify their costly investigations (vendetta?) against these two lobbyists.

The Desert Rat finds it interesting that the wee timorous beastie, Mike the Mouse Silverstone is again mute. Has he lost all confidence in himself to make a public comment?

Silverstone has left the the chattering Director of "Botched" Operations Nick Anticich to front the media. Is this a way to give this clown a leg up into the top job when Silverstone makes his strategic retreat, to spend his myriad of government sponsored pensions and fat salary and allowances leftovers - in his eastern states hideout?

After three years the Desert Rat expects any competent investigator should have had the inquiry and any charges completed.

How would Silverstone and Roberts-Smith if innocent of any wrongdoing, like to spend the next 3 or 4 years in limbo waiting for some incompetent idiots to finish their inquiry and have their private and personal conversation listened to, their email and faxes intercepted, their mail tampered with and being spied on by hidden miniature 'voyeur' cameras - at the same time?

CCC dumps Finance Brokers Inquiry. No report after four (fruitless?) years.

We are dangerously incompetent. We specialise in ruining the reputations of honest hardworking citizens and refuse to be accountable.

What a hide these Corruption and Crime Commission clowns have!

What, no Report?!!

The CCC have refused to admit that they are idiots. "We may be liars, incompetent and a miserable failure" a spokesman said "but we are not idiots".

After four year of investigation and public hearing into the Finance Brokers term of reference, which was designed to damage the reputations of a number of politicians, Brian Burke and Julian Grill, the chief clown and ringmaster Major General Len Roberts-Smith has informed the victims that:

"...I have concluded it would be unproductive and not in the public interest to proceed further and, specifically, not to proceed with the preparation of a report for tabling in the Western Australian Parliament."

The Desert Rat wonders what the investigation was about.

Earlier last year the Desert Rat undertook his own detailed investigation of this matter and asked the same question! This was thoroughly reported in an earlier post here.

It took about six hours of work to investigate and write the article. The Desert Rat could have done an investigation and written a report for the clowns at the CCC for about $5000 - that's about 10 days work at the Desert Rat's modest fee.

Why has it taken the CCC, four years, costly public hearings, millions of dollars and thousands of hours of unproductive staff time to reach this conclusion? Commissioner Roberts-Smith and Executive Director Silverstone are spendthrifts and pathetic incompetents.

Would they waste their own money as they waste public taxpayers funds?

The backsliding Roberts-Smith says "he has concluded it is unproductive and not in the public interest to proceed further.." surely they must have done something in four years? Roberts-Smith has also "concluded" to "not to proceed with the preparation of a report for tabling in the Western Australian Parliament". There is no CCC grovelling media release making this announcement, just a grubby low key letter to the victims.

Well Major General Roberts-Smith, we want to know what you found out in four years?

• Is it not in the public interest to expose your former patron Jim McGinty's role in the Finance Brokers term of reference?
  
• Is it not in the public interest to conclude that Brian Burke and Julian Grill did a public service by placing enormous pressure on Jim McGinty to honour his pre-election commitment to compensate the many pensioners who were defrauded?

The public and the WA parliament deserve a report, so that there is some indication as to whether these citizens have done anything wrong or right which is more likely!

Would the CCC open themselves to public ridicule if they admitted they got it badly wrong again in respect of Julian Grill, Brian Burke, Anthony Fels and Noel Crichton-Brown? The CCC's gratuitous public humiliation of each of these men, sanctioned by the likes of Roberts-Smith and Mike Children Overboard Silverstone was like kicking someone while the were down - and yet no apology!

• Has Roberts-Smith been sufficiently vague in the wording of his letter, to suggest there was not enough evidence to prosecute these men?
  
• Has the CCC run out of money and can't afford to complete the investigation and write the report?
  

What has happened to dump this investigation after four years without any report?

The Desert Rat is very confident that all the main facts are in his earlier post on the matter . The only missing part is, Jim McGinty's version of his dealing in the Finance Brokers matter? McGinty's vindictive treatment of those who worked so hard to get a resolution of the matter should have come under scrutiny. Neither Jim McGinty or any of his apologists has disputed the Desert Rat's account of events.

Don't expect the sleazy duo of Len Roberts-Smith or Mike Silverstone to ever be gracious in defeat, it is not part of their thick and bullying demeanour to be fair.

McGinty - Reign and Succession

McGinty: Failure on all front or deliberate deliverance of Fremantle to the Greens?

Tomorrow is the unwanted by-election for Fremantle. Jim McGinty politically odouriferous stench has ensured he has remained invisible during the campaign which presents most Fremantle voters with Hobson's choice. A Green, no Liberal candidate and a Liberal standing as a Labor candidate and nondescript independents.

Jim McGinty's legacy is an embarrassment, he controlled the biggest Left union, and therefore the Left Wing of the ALP and therefore the State Executive of the ALP, which in turn has endorsed all ALP candidates for seats in parliament; McGinty effectively controls the Parliamentary Labor Party for the last 19 years. This power gave him defacto control of the WA Parliament and the Government of WA for the 7 years of the Gallop and Carpenter Ministries.

Despite this power and influence, he always failed to plan for the future and in 19 years put Left Faction types into Parliament of insufficient ability, to be ministerial material, let alone leadership material - the goons gig - the star recruit being Fran "Do you want a threesome" Logan.

McGinty failed to groom people to be able to take on the Left leadership. Perhaps he thought it would never be necessary once the self appointed Emperor assumed the Kim Jong Il mantle.

The result was that after the 2008 election, the cupboard was so bare he had to desperately move to slot Roger Cook (who was elected by the skin of his teeth in Kwinana) into the position as deputy leader of Labor, even before he had taken a seat in the house. Other obvious talent with parliamentary experience such as Aboriginal Victoria Park MLA Ben Wyatt were passed by because they were not paid up obedient members of the McGinty controlled Left Faction.

The net result has been a talentless group of Left members who McGinty could herd and bring to heel and a policy bankrupt ALP Left Caucus of voting fodder.

When McGinty resigned from the state seat of Fremantle, he left the ALP in a hole because there was no-one with an ALP pedigree with any local credibility, to slot into Fremantle. The result is a card carrying Liberal Peter Tagliaferri who contested the 1990 election against McGinty, who recently donated to the Liberal Party. Remember Julian Grill was expelled from the ALP for forwarding a cheque to the National Party from one of his clients. Bare-faced hypocrisy again!

The Desert Rat reckons Tagliaferri could well be an Independent either shortly after (or before if he gets a chance) he locks in his pension.

McGinty has achieved all this with one vote, one value and increased the malapportionment in the Upper House which was supposed to entrench Labor in the Lower House and the Greens in the Upper House.

One can only think about missed opportunities to consolidate Labor with good like-minded people. All they have got from poaching outside the Party are rent-a-politicians Alan Carpenter, St Carmen Lawrence and now Peter Tagliaferri, perhaps.

The Desert Rats wonders if Jim McGinty would actually prefer a Green elected in Fremantle, as he has done his level best to achieve that end by (unwitting or deliberate?) stealth.

At least McGinty has that in common with the Liberals in this by-election.

The whole sorry saga reflects McGinty's pre-occupation with short term thinking and action - today's quick fix is tomorrows f f...failure.