Judge slams secret phone taps

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE - Supreme Court Judge John Dowsett has said he is "heartily sick" of government agencies' applications to install secret listening devices in Queensland.

Speaking on January 12 during a Criminal Justice Commission application for an injunction against publication of confidential documents by the Australian newspaper, the judge attacked "obsessive secrecy" by government departments in applying for phone taps.

"The applications are made in secret. There are no records, or only secret records. It's no good."

"It must be very hard for members of the public to perceive any difference between the courts and government agencies, even making the courts look like an arm of government", Judge Dowsett said.

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties said on January 12 that it had held "grave concerns over a considerable period of time about the use and potential for misuse" of police powers for telephone tapping and listening devices, such as hidden microphones.

Council vice-president Ian Dearden said the council objected to state laws that did not require keeping of records on how many applications were made for listening devices and how many were approved.

From GLW issue 127