ATTEMPTS by Peter Slipper and ministers to label the behaviour of James Ashby part of a criminal conspiracy have backfired.
…
Mr Ashby is suing the speaker of the house Mr Slipper for sexual harassment, with Mr Slipper and the Commonwealth arguing that the case is an abuse of process.However Justice Steven Rares in the Federal Court this morning said that the allegations of a criminal conspiracy from Mr Slipper and senior ministers meant that Mr Ashby could no longer be forced to make a submission against the allegations in the civil case because he may incriminate himself.
“You have raised the stakes, now in raising the stakes you cannot just pull back a bit . . . You don’t know how somebody might use that information in a criminal investigation,” Justice Rares told Mr Slipper’s lawyer David Chin.
“He does not have to give his name if he is involved in and suspected of a crime . . . If we do not uphold those rights in our society we live in a police state.”
Ouch. The government had been hoping to portray the whole thing as some kind of conspiracy and get the case thrown out of court.
The AFR picked up on the cab voucher aspect of the story today ($).
Amid those records are at least 16 occasions when Slipper took expensive taxi rides to or from an airport – but where there is no Finance Department record of him taking a flight on the day. The records of Slipper’s taxi and limousine use – paid by the Commonwealth for business use, and his separate flight records paid by the Commonwealth for business use –have been posted online by the department.
Yet again we are witnessing an investigation in slow motion. What do investigators do on a daily basis?
The evidence is there for all to see. Charge the bastard!
jupes
6 Jul 12 at 1:35 pm
As stupid as this rule is, it’s amazing the Attorney General didn’t know that.
jupes
6 Jul 12 at 1:37 pm
Nicola Roxon: moron.
Another affirmative action disaster.
C.L.
6 Jul 12 at 1:53 pm
And so the whole stinking shambolic circus blunders on…
Rabz
6 Jul 12 at 1:55 pm
Apparently he’s overseas again for a few weeks all on political business.
candy
6 Jul 12 at 2:02 pm
I trust the report Slipper submits after this multi country round the world trip will be as legible and original as the report from Thomson’s last journey.
Token
6 Jul 12 at 2:20 pm
Remember when the news cared about Craig Thompson until the Government directed them not to anymore?
Once this Peter Slipper thing falls in a heap on his head expect the government to direct the news not to concern itself with Slipper either.
You know, media crackdown imminent and all.
twostix
6 Jul 12 at 2:23 pm
As the police wing of the ALP is in the news in another thread, recollect also what the linked article says about Albanese:
Judge hold moron Albanese responsible:
However, before we praise the judge too much, note also that he seems to be rewarding the government’s tactics – telegraphing that maybe Ashby ought to back off:
C.L.
6 Jul 12 at 2:43 pm
The poor standards in the AFP is a _serious_ concern. I posted Indonesia’s concerns about Captain Emad.
How about the rest of us? What does it say that the AFP did not act on a criminal like that?
Media response? All is quiet.
Token
6 Jul 12 at 2:57 pm
“I trust the report Slipper submits after this multi country round the world trip will be as legible and original as the report from Thomson’s last journey.”
oh yeah i remember, cut and paste craig.
candy
6 Jul 12 at 3:02 pm
Why is he overseas on parliamentary business? I thought one of the reasons for the recent massive increase in parliamentary salaries was to cut back on parliamentary overseas trips?
Samuel J
6 Jul 12 at 3:17 pm
He’s in the Middle East on 18 day taxpayer funded trip so I’ve read.
must be checking out those brooding handsome middle east types.
candy
6 Jul 12 at 3:23 pm
There’s an AFP recruitment ad going around on TV at the moment.
http://www.screencraft.com.au/Projects/australian-federal-police-tvc
It’s a checklist of “look how progressive we are” sops:
“Multicultural”: Check
AFP officer points up randomly to expose his wrist tattoo? Check
Beside one shot ad focuses entirely on women? Check
From the launch of the ad:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/federal-police-launch-recruit-drive-20120402-1w8d6.html
The AFP is a joke.
twostix
6 Jul 12 at 3:23 pm
The comparison to Watergate by Albo is preposterous. That was by a sitting President.
A better comparison (perhaps if true) would be to DSK in New York if his opponents truly set him up. But to be set up implies that the person (DSK or Slipper) is inclined to the behaviour they are being set up for. Is it entrapment?
But there is no entrapment where a person is ready and willing to break the law and the agents merely provide what appears to be a favorable opportunity for the person to commit the crime.
Samuel J
6 Jul 12 at 3:45 pm
It’s Friday and probably my head is not working as perhaps it might.
But is somebody able to explain to me in simple terms what criminal act it is that Peter Slipper alleges James Ashby conspired to do? No big words please.
Tapdog
6 Jul 12 at 4:08 pm
Samuel, don’t forget that Labor’s initial response to the Slipper allegations was to blame Tony Abbott for not having got rid of such a person. That was their original talking point.
C.L.
6 Jul 12 at 4:22 pm
“why do you shower with the door shut?”
“have you ever come in a blokes arse ?”
Pickles
6 Jul 12 at 4:23 pm
He didn’t do anything criminal, Tapdog. Nobody has alleged that he stole documents, for example.
Which reminds me – remember that video of a sweary Kevin Rudd that was stolen and leaked from PM&C?
Surprise surprise – the AFP found nothing when they ‘investigated.’
What’s being missed here, I think, is the judge’s concluding remarks which seem to me to constitute almost a reward for the smear tactic he identifies. He is clearly implying that both sides are equally at fault. In fact, he says the complaint is “out of proportion” and argues that its politicisation is reason enough for the parties to “step back” and resolve it themselves.
C.L.
6 Jul 12 at 4:29 pm
Would this linuistically diverse group qualify?
Splatacrobat
6 Jul 12 at 4:38 pm
Send in JC and his firehose.
Woolfe
6 Jul 12 at 5:09 pm
yes, they have CL.
SteveC
6 Jul 12 at 5:25 pm
Peter Slipper is alleging that Ashby made up his sexual harassment claims to hurt Slippers reputation.
SteveC
6 Jul 12 at 5:26 pm
Really? I’m shocked aren’t you?
JC
6 Jul 12 at 5:27 pm
To quote Mark Steyn:
etc
Our society is led by morons.
jupes
6 Jul 12 at 5:30 pm
Tapdog -
This will give you an idea. Its easy reading with little legalspeak.
______________________
CL-
I think the Judge has effectively indicated that they should mediate as it will not bode well for either party. (or more to the point Ashby’s claim is weak)
While not necessarily criminal Ashby’s & others will have alot of answering to do and it will bring into question whether Brough should be selected as the LNP candidate for Fisher.
I think most of us while we dislike Slipper think Ashby’s claim is horseshit anyway.
Nanuestalker
6 Jul 12 at 5:33 pm
Comment disappears into the abyss????
Nanuestalker
6 Jul 12 at 5:38 pm
In other words, Labor voters. No wonder the AFP is compromised.
benson
6 Jul 12 at 5:38 pm
Tapdog -
This should make it clear.
Nanuestalker
6 Jul 12 at 5:40 pm
CL -
I think the Judge has indicated clearly that the should mediate as it won’t bode well for either party. Ashby should take it as an indication that his claim is weak.
Nanuestalker
6 Jul 12 at 5:42 pm
Most have choose not to comment on a harassment case as they can be tangled he said/he said events where the truth is rarely established.
Fact is, most voters only care about the dodgy taxi vouchers, which when added to the sleaze surrounding Shagger Thomson indicates there is one rule for this government and its friends, and another for the rest of the Australian community.
Token
6 Jul 12 at 5:51 pm
To fake a sexual harrassment case against p.slipper would mean incarceration and never getting a proper job again. Hard to think of a strong enough motive to do something with such likely dreadful consequences.
candy
6 Jul 12 at 5:53 pm
Think Tony Hodges.
Splatacrobat
6 Jul 12 at 6:04 pm
Right. It’s another victimhood culture by-product of the Left’s march through the institutions.
Grow some sack and stop acting like a fag. Being a fag is no excuse.
Abu Chowdah
6 Jul 12 at 6:13 pm
Hi Sinclair,
Sorry for posting this here, but I didn’t know how else to contact you. I open catallaxy every day, but for the last two days using my windows PC at work my virus checker has blocked opening your blog, saying there is malware on the page. It only happens with catallaxy, and I am writing this on my iPad, where I apparently have no problem nor on my Mac at home. Just in case I thought I should let you know.
[Hi Greg - thanks for that. We have been under quite virulent attack but Jacques thinks he is on top of it. Sinc]
Greg
6 Jul 12 at 6:18 pm
Yeah, like that is a prized possession. I’d liken it to protecting a carbuncle or a dose of the ‘x”
Helen Armstrong
6 Jul 12 at 6:28 pm
Right. He’s being a big lefty girl. He should have smashed Slipper in the face for his toilet, shower and sodomy comments.
That said, Labor icon Fr Slipper is definitely weird and I doubt he’ll be returning to the Speaker’s chair.
As for the allegation of ‘stolen’ diary extracts, that would depend on what sort of ‘diary’ we’re talking about. Staffers often more or less manage their principal’s office and appointments diary. I presume Ashby didn’t have access to Slipper’s personal Dear Diary diary. So it could be a vexatious horeshit allegation – of a piece with the government’s hilarious “Watergate” charge.
C.L.
6 Jul 12 at 6:28 pm
Slipper’s personal Dear Diary diary
That would be funny!
Nanuestalker
6 Jul 12 at 6:36 pm
“Right. He’s being a big lefty girl. He should have smashed Slipper in the face for his toilet, shower and sodomy comments.”
j. ashby looks a gentle natured individual in any pictures I’ve seen. he was upset about P.slipper’s jibes about some weight gain (it’s in the Stat Dec stuff). perhaps he’s quite sensitive.
The smashing faces may not be his way of dealing with weird stuff.
candy
6 Jul 12 at 6:49 pm
He likely knew the rumors.
Then when it started he should have dealt wit it or quit.
Like an adult.
Abu Chowdah
6 Jul 12 at 6:51 pm
“Then when it started he should have dealt wit it or quit.”
Yes, for sure. perhaps he felt he could handle it in his own way. The way he went round to talking to various people about it sounds like a confused person, not a devious person.
candy
6 Jul 12 at 7:08 pm
Ah Candy, bless your heart…but sorry that’s garbage. Looking for a job with/through Mal Bough is the action of a confused person but a very calculating one.
Nanuestalker
6 Jul 12 at 7:15 pm
Agree Abu but these days men don’t know how to behave men. All this Pc stuff has emasculated lots of younger males
Daisy
6 Jul 12 at 8:02 pm
Surely Ashby is in it for a good settlement.
But all that’s expected is that the ALP treat sexual harrasment cases reasonably equally.
So, just as they stood down the head of ADFA when there were allegations that while he was in charge there was sexual harrassment…
Karl Kessel
6 Jul 12 at 8:20 pm
Nice link Nanuestalker excellent reading.
‘Duplicity and deception’ seems to be Slipper’s major gripe – ie situation normal in Capital Circle circles. And the diary thing – arguably shady but is it criminal as Albanese claims?
The project was to put a ratbag on the skids. Mission accomplished but at a final cost to James Ashby which is yet unknown.
Tapdog
6 Jul 12 at 8:26 pm
s70 Crimes Act 1914
Division 147.1 Criminal Code Act 1995
Nanuestalker
6 Jul 12 at 9:39 pm
147.1 Criminal Code
Nanuestalker
6 Jul 12 at 9:42 pm
Listening to ALP love media liaison Mark Colvin speaking to George Brandis on this (PM), you can see how successful the government’s distraction campaign has been. Colvin continues to interrupt Brandis, implying Ashby’s case is indeed a conspiracy to ‘get’ the innocent Slipper. He cites the fact that Ashby (a Liberal) spoke to other Liberals about his supposed workplace nightmare.
C.L.
6 Jul 12 at 10:05 pm
The ABC is a disgrace and needs to be sold off. At least if it a private company it will have to be accountable to someone other than the collective that runs it now.
Johno
6 Jul 12 at 10:33 pm
Can you imagine what the screeching from the left would be like if James Ashby had been, say, Jane Ashby? But since he’s a bloke it’s OK to accuse him of making the whole thing up. Don’t you just love leftist hypocrisy?
I’ve been harassed (not sexually) in a public service workplace. Having previously worked in professional offices where people behaved professionally, it wasn’t something I’d ever come across before and I didn’t have a clue how to deal with it so I talked to quite a few people trying to figure out what to do before I eventually quit for my sanity’s sake. Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that Ashby also tried to get advice from all over the place.
And at the next place I worked, a university, I saw the same thing happening to other people. The boss was a serial offender and managed to hire and drive away three people from the same job over a period of about 18 months. At the same time she was putting the screws on several of the rest of the staff. People were losing weight, not sleeping, depressed, anxious, generally a mess. Guess what? They finally got together, went to her boss, suffered through the whole mediation thing, and eventually she, having joined the union, was not sacked but was at least moved from her position to one where she had no staff supervisory responsibilities. Most years since then the victors have held a “We Got XXX” party.
jrm
6 Jul 12 at 11:57 pm
The Ashby scandal has been a disgrace for the LNP. Slipper will probably return to the speaker’s chair, or at worst join the cross-benches. The latter would be funnier, as it would mean more desperate dashes by cabinet clowns Pyne and Abbott to avoid benefiting from his vote on the occasional meaningless procedural decision.
It will be interesting to see if they quietly knife Brough in preselection to avoid further embarrassment. I’m tipping no on that one.
m0nty
7 Jul 12 at 12:06 am
lol
JC
7 Jul 12 at 12:11 am
FFS, there is no “Ashby scandal”.
Nanuestalker
7 Jul 12 at 12:24 am
JC-
You should hook monty up with your mate Shiny so that shit looking website fanfooty can get a facelift.
Nanuestalker
7 Jul 12 at 12:26 am
Is Ashby the one under the original investigation? Oh that’s right, it’s Slipper. Not that you’d know if you watch and listen to the great big hullabaloo put on by Labor.
Gab
7 Jul 12 at 12:26 am
Monty backs new Labor icon, Fr Slipper.
LOL.
C.L.
7 Jul 12 at 12:40 am
At this point Ashby is the one more likely to get convicted of anything.
m0nty
7 Jul 12 at 12:44 am
If labor has anything to do with and they do, so you’re probably correct, monty.
Gab
7 Jul 12 at 12:47 am
Oh gawd…Monty QC!
Nanuestalker
7 Jul 12 at 12:48 am
JRM – I’m with you. But imagine the squealing if it had been a “james” and the libs were in office. We would never hear the end of it. Having experienced the type of harrassment that you describe in highly politicised workforces (Uni’s)I can understand exactly why Ashby has done what he has done.
& Monty – your a fuckwit!
Dianne
7 Jul 12 at 8:07 am
mOron and SteveC. Stupid to the end. Where’s StevieLiar?
Tiny Dancer
7 Jul 12 at 10:29 am
Don’t forget who is representing Slipper and the most hopeless government in history here. Why it’s JULIAN BURNSIDE who has made a PERSONAL MOTZA from the poor bloody taxpayer through REPRESENTING ILLEGAL ARRIVALS IN COURT IN AUSTRALIA. In fact Burnside is in effect THE BOSS OF THE ILLEGALS INDUSTRY and just the lawyer Howard set out to prevent making a personal fortune from taxpayers by keeping so-called refugees off shore in Nauru. I predict Slipper and the Commonwealth will have to fork out on the Ashby matter. Just look at Slipper’s texts to Ashby from day one and Steve Lewis is not a dickhead. BURNSIDE’S FEES REPRESENTING SLIPPER AND THE GILLARD GOVERNMENT will have to be paid, yet again, by the taxpayer.
davey street
7 Jul 12 at 5:16 pm
So, an assault is the solution, eh? And probably he’d get slapped with additional sentencing for it being a “hate crime” …and guaranteed he’d get dragged through the media courts as a violent gay-bashing homophobe.
wreckage
7 Jul 12 at 6:04 pm