IF POLICE Minister Bob Cameron's defence of secret information exchanges between Victoria Police and and external agencies sounds familiar, it's because it is. Last December The Age reported that the police had agreed to hand over to Aquasure, the international consortium building a water desalination plant at Wonthaggi, information about people involved in protests against the plant. Water Minister Tim Holding responded to concerns that the agreement might breach privacy laws by saying: ''If the Victoria Police make a video of protest activities that are under way, and it's not part of what's on the nightly news … if they make that video and they provide that to Aquasure, then you would expect Aquasure not to put it on YouTube two hours later but to handle it sensitively.'' As The Age commented at the time, Mr Holding's mention of YouTube implicitly recognised why such agreements between the police and external agencies are cause for concern. And as this newspaper reported yesterday, the concern is not limited to the agreement between the police and Aquasure.
A freedom of information request by the state opposition has revealed 36 such agreements, or ''memorandums of understanding'' between the police and external agencies, including the AFL. That particular deal describes the police and AFL as: ''working in co-operation to eliminate gambling, match fixing, illicit-drug taking, possession, sexual assault, family violence, etc, that would be prejudicial to the interests of the AFL''. This raises the spectre of the AFL being tipped off early about a criminal investigation involving a player or official, and then attempting to spin media reporting in the most favourable terms for the league, regardless of the legal rights of the accused person or the alleged victim. Not surprisingly, both the police and the AFL deny that any personal information has been exchanged under the agreement, with an AFL statement declaring that any suggestion of secret files being available to the league was ''completely and utterly wrong''. It must certainly be hoped that this is the case; but if it is, what then is the point of the memorandum of understanding? When such secret agreements are in place, how would it be known whether privacy laws have been breached?
The police, like any other citizens, are bound to obey the law, and all citizens and corporate bodies such as the AFL are bound to co-operate with police in the performance of their duties. Mr Cameron needs to explain why these simple and clear obligations need help from - and are not threatened by - secret agreements.
