The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) is alarmed at the revelations yesterday at the Select Committee on the Relationship between the Dural Caravan Incident and Parliamentary Debates on Legislation. It is deeply concerning that a NSW Police officer sitting at the top of the investigation into the incident had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for the Australian Federal Police to reveal information confirming the incident was part of an opportunistic criminal conspiracy, and not anti-semitic terrorism.
The use of an NDA in this context is extremely unusual, and was clearly not in the public interest: the NSW public was made to believe that a “mass casualty event” or “terror attack” was imminent, and it was in this febrile atmosphere that the hate speech and anti-protest laws were rushed through parliament by Premier Minns on 21 February.
The following questions need to be answered:
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When was the NDA signed? Was it still in effect on 21 February when repressive legislation was rushed through parliament?
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Who was bound by this NDA? What information was subject to non-disclosure?
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Did the NDA prevent the disclosure of any information about the Dural caravan hoax to the Premier, Police Minister, or Parliament?
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Despite the NDA, was the Premier briefed by the police that the caravan bombing plot was a suspected hoax before he rushed the laws through parliament on 21 February?
Comments from Mr Tim Roberts President, NSW Council for Civil Liberties
“The NSWCCL is alarmed at the use of an NDA in this incident. It is essential to the restoration of public trust in our parliament that the Inquiry gets to the bottom of whether it in any way contributed to keeping the public in the dark that the Dural caravan was a criminal hoax, not a terror attack like we were led to believe”
