CCC changes a huge conflict: Johnson
Premier Colin Barnett says former police minister Rob Johnson's Liberal Party preselection is not in jeopardy for opposing reform legislation involving the Corruption and Crime Commission.
The West Australian revealed today that Mr Johnson, dumped as police minister by the Premier in a cabinet reshuffle, has torpedoed a central plank of Mr Barnett's legislative agenda, telling colleagues he could not support new laws to allow the CCC to run joint organised crime operations with WA Police.
Mr Johnson, now a backbencher and therefore not tied to Cabinet positions on legislation, told ABC radio this morning the proposed legislation represented “a huge conflict of interest“.
Mr Barnett, speaking on 6PR, said the changes to the CCC would be examined to ensure there is no conflicts of interests.
On the preselection issue, he said Mr Johnson had been preselected and "I don't see that changing".
Mr Barnett said he did not dump Mr Johnson as police minister because Mr Johnson opposed the CCC legislation.
Mr Johnson told ABC radio: “You can't have an organisation doing that (overseeing police) and working alongside them in investigating organised crime where there's millions of dollars worth of drugs and cash and all the rest of it going on.
“I think that organised crime has been and is being well investigated by WA police and they have had some tremendous results recently finding enormous amounts of drugs and cash ... and these organised crime gang leaders have been put away in jail. “You can't say that the CCC has had similar successful outcomes.”
Mr Johnson said several party colleagues felt the same way about the bill.
“I have spoken to other members in the parliament, I have spoken to independents and ... there are other Liberal members who share my concern.”
The backbencher said some legal experts and parliamentary inspectors to the CCC shared his concerns.
He found a recent CCC investigation into police commissioner Karl O'Callaghan to be “intolerable”.
“And now we expect them to work together - I don't think that's right.”
Mr Johnson also said he took great offence to suggestions his position on the issue was revenge for being dumped by Mr Barnett as police minister.
