The Age is having a poke at the AFP’s leak investigating section “special references” and the 17-officer “Head Office Investigations” which is tasked with hunting down Canberra’s public servants who can’t or won’t keep secrets.
Under freedom of information, The Age obtained the final reports of all 48 federal police leak cases – referred by politicians or heads of government departments – since July 2005.
The reports not only show Labor’s tenacity in pursuing leaks, they also reveal that such investigations, if judged on their justice outcomes alone, are almost useless.
Of the 48 referrals, only two resulted in convictions, meaning such investigations have one of the lowest success rates in Australian law enforcement – 4 per cent.
Should the police exist to serve the Government? The Law? The People?