VICTORY
First published 1831 No. 53,117 $1.20 (inc GST)
Wednesday December 19, 2007
LEAGUE FANS WIN
DAYTIME FINAL
SPORT
$10m justice for accused police
EXCLUSIVE
Philip Cornford
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THE dawn raid on ‘‘The Untouchables’’ of Task Force Bax was
trumpeted as a huge blow against
corrupt detectives, but 10 years
later it has been exposed as a
farce, with nine former detectives
winning damages believed to be
more than $10 million from the
NSW Government.
Chief among them is the taskforce commander, former superintendent Geoff Wegg, 65, whose
aggressive leadership against
drug dealers and standover men
Geoff Wegg ... vindicated.
in Kings Cross made Bax a highly
feared and elite unit, in 18
months arresting 80 criminals,
including 20 for offences carrying life jail sentences.
But Mr Wegg was among 14 Bax
detectives arrested and charged
following a surprise dawn raid on
their Kings Cross headquarters on
Friday, October 24, 1997. Amid
suspicions that some were too
closely associated with the drug
dealers they were supposed to be
hunting, the then police commissioner, Peter Ryan, personally
supervised the raid by Internal
Affairs detectives. Flanked by
senior commanders, Mr Ryan told
a media conference that this was
the beginning of the end of the
flagrant police corruption which
had been exposed a year earlier by
the Police Royal Commission and
which led to his appointment.
It also signalled the end for
Task Force Bax, but the beginning of a long fight for its wrongly
accused detectives.
For nine of them, the amount of
compensation agreed in mediation
before the former NSW chief justice Sir Laurence Street is confidential, and Mr Wegg and the
other successful litigants will not
discuss it. It is believed to be the
biggest payout in police history.
Mr Wegg dryly told the Herald
yesterday: ‘‘We didn’t get what we
deserved and we didn’t get what
we asked for. But we walked away
with a satisfactory result.’’
Originally, 12 former Bax officers each sought $750,000 compensation in the District Court in
2001. But with the passage of
time, the amount increased.
Nine of them took the action to
the Supreme Court, seeking unlimited damages, claiming they
had been negligently treated and
falsely imprisoned, and de-
manded compensation for wages
lost in the ensuing 10 years.
The other Bax officers who
were litigants are former detective
sergeants Paul Tuxford, Raymond
Lambie, Stuart Taylor and Andrew
Lock, former detective senior constables David Rope, Rodney
Matheson and Ian Campbell, and
former detective Michael King.
With the exception of Mr
Matheson, who is a uniformed
sergeant, all were dismissed or resigned after they were arrested or
charged. None was found guilty.
Mr Wegg went to trial and was
acquitted on two charges of giving
They aced the HSC – now the world’s at their feet
false information to the Police Integrity Commission relating to his
knowledge about the criminal associates of one of his officers.
Andrew Lock, 45, is Australia’s
leading mountaineer, having
climbed 12 of the world’s 14 peaks
over 8000 metres, including
Everest and Annapurna 1, the
most dangerous peak in the
world. He is now a counterterrorism expert with the federal
Attorney-General’s Department.
Mr Ryan’s corruption-busting
claim proved to be idle boasting.
Only one Bax officer, Detective
Continued Page 2
Garages face limit
on fuel price rises
Jessica Irvine
Economics Correspondent
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Dancer since he was three ... Luke Prunty doing what he does so well.
Anna Patty, Harriet Alexander
and Bonny Symons-Brown
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LUKE PRUNTY pirouetted his
way across the floor to become
the first boy in NSW to top the
Higher School Certificate in
dance. Unlike the film character
Billy Elliot, he had the strong
support of friends and family.
The Colo High School student
tied first in the state with Hayley
Prior, of Port Hacking High.
‘‘It was a big shock,’’ said Luke,
one of 29 boys who completed
dance for the HSC, when he
received his award yesterday.
‘‘I’ve been supported by my
friends and family the whole way
through since I started at the age
of three. I haven’t experienced
that stereotypical attitude
that you see in the movie. I think
it’s a new time and era.’’
Hayley, one of 687 female
dance students, said dance was
seen as a ‘‘cool thing to do’’.
‘‘There are so many boys
doing it and they always get the
girls’ numbers.’’
The Premier, Morris Iemma,
who awarded certificates to 113
first-place-getters at a ceremony
at the Conservatorium of Music
yesterday, took the opportunity
to match Kevin Rudd’s spouting
of Mandarin by showing off his
skills in Italian.
Mr Iemma singled out several
students including Nicholas
Olson, who topped both the
classical Greek continuers and
extension courses, Samuel
Lewin, who placed first in his
German extension subject, and
Paul Karp, who topped the field
in Italian continuers, ‘‘despite
none of them being from those
ethnic backgrounds’’.
‘‘Unfortunately my ancient
Greek and German are nonexistent, Nicholas and Samuel,
but I can at least say to Paul,
‘Congratulazioni, Paolo’,’’ Mr
Iemma said.
Jemima Go, who came equal
first in French continuers, was
surprised that her cultural
background had attracted the
Continued Page 4
Pas de deux ... Luke Prunty, of Colo High, and Hayley Prior, of Port Hacking High. The pair topped the HSC in dance. Photo: Peter Rae
WEATHER Details – Page 18
Credit crunch put bite on bank
●
The Reserve Bank saw a
‘‘strong case’’ for back-to-back
interest rate rises in November
and December but held off
because of the international
credit crunch, minutes released
from this month’s meeting
reveal. The fallout from the
Sydney Fine18°-25°
Tomorrow 17°-27°
● Liverpool Fine 15°-27°
Tomorrow 15°-32°
● Penrith Fine 16°-27°
Tomorrow 15°-32°
● Wollongong Fine 15°-24°
Tomorrow fine 15°-27°
ISSN 0312-6315
9 770312 631032
credit crisis has sent investors
fleeing from Centro Properties
Group, whose share price fell to
as low as 42 cents yesterday –
after peaking at $10.02 in May.
Vultures started circling as
Centro considered a sale of
prime assets. Pages 2, 21
SERVICE stations would be restricted to one price movement
a day, and notified in advance to
motorists on a taxpayer-funded
website, under a proposal by the
competition watchdog.
As motorists prepare to hit the
roads this Christmas, a sixmonth inquiry into petrol prices
by the Australian Competition
and Consumer Commission unearthed no evidence of price collusion. But it did find a ‘‘comfortable oligopoly’’ existed among
Australia’s big four domestic petrol refiners – Shell, BP, Mobil and
Caltex – that hampered competition at the wholesale level.
‘‘Our inquiry found that overall
the petrol market in Australia is
competitive, however, we did find
some structural factors that operate to constrain a fully competitive
market at all levels of the supply
chain,’’ said the commission’s
chairman, Graeme Samuels.
The president of the NRMA,
Alan Evans, said the inquiry
might have some deterrent effect over the Christmas holiday
period, keeping prices lower
than otherwise.
But petrol prices in Australia
were already the fourth-lowest
among comparable developed
economies, the commission
found. There was also a ‘‘significant degree of competition’’ between petrol retailers, with retail
margins averaging 4.2 cents a
litre over the past four years.
Shopper docket schemes have
also been cleared, with the commission finding their introduction
by Coles and Woolworths in 2003
had resulted in lower prices for
consumers. These discounts had
not simply been recouped through
Recommendations
씰 Give motorists more
information about prices,
possibly through a national
‘‘fuel watch’’ website, or
restrict service stations’
sharing of information.
씰 More closely examine the
purchase arrangements
between the big four
domestic refiners to see if
they are anti-competitive.
씰 Make it easier for
independents to import
petrol by aligning fuel
standards with appropriate
overseas standards and
auditing access to terminal
storage facilities.
higher prices on the supermarket
shelf, contrary to some submissions to the inquiry.
Similarly, while the schemes
presented a ‘‘significant competitive challenge’’ to independent
petrol retailers, they were not
responsible for the closure of independent stations, which was part
of a longer-term industry trend.
This is a finding hotly contested by
the independent stations.
But the commission did find
pricing could be made more
transparent by introducing
a national ‘‘fuel watch’’ system,
extending a popular scheme
already operated by the West
Australian Government.
Under that scheme, service
stations are required to tell the
Government by 2pm each day
what price they will charge in the
24 hours from 6am the next day.
Motorists can see by about 4pm
each day whether they would be
better off filling the tank that
Continued Page 6
Torment of a woman whose car became a killer
Geesche Jacobsen
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Castro handover to a whippersnapper
The ailing Cuban leader, Fidel
Castro, has suggested he
might give up his formal
leadership posts for a younger
successor – his 76-year-old
brother. It is the first time Dr
Castro has spoken of
retirement since he fell ill
Andrew Lock ... long battle.
more than 16 months ago. In a
letter read on television, he
said he would not cling to
office or obstruct the rise of a
new generation of leaders. He
appeared to hint he would
leave Cuba’s leadership to his
brother Raul. Page 8
Friends shield Rose Deng as she leaves the court. Photo: Bryan O’Brien
SHE is a Sudanese widow who
was tortured and saw her husband
killed in front of her in Uganda.
Yesterday Rose Ogir Madut
Deng, 42, apologised and fell at
the feet of the mother of a
young woman who died after
the car Deng was driving hit
a group of people waiting at a
Kogarah bus stop on March 27.
Deng was applying in court
yesterday to have her mental torment considered when deciding
how to deal with charges of negligent driving causing death.
The learner-driver had allegedly taken a corner too widely
and, when her instructor grabbed
the steering wheel to prevent an
accident, she hit the accelerator
instead of the brakes, the Downing Centre Local Court was told.
Deng’s Toyota Echo hit the kerb
in Railway Street, flattened two
bus stop signs and ploughed into
the queue. The car also hit two
women crossing the road with
their children. An 18-month-old
boy was thrown about 1.5 metres
into the air and critically injured.
Emma Hansen, 20, a fashion
Continued Page 6
Emma Hansen ... killed.
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