Page 764 - Week 05 - Thursday, 6 July 1989
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probably are a little long-winded. Would you please get a little closer to the point.
MR COLLAERY: Mr Speaker, I was giving the Opposition a chance to know what makes me tick, but I take the point. Instead, Mr Speaker, let me say, in terms of organised crime, that I spent a good part of my life in and out of this country dealing with issues of that concern. It is one of the most insidious issues. I spent a great deal of time dealing with issues arising in Hong Kong, for instance, and I had the honour to work with persons from Hong Kong who ultimately formed there the Independent Commission Against Corruption. One of the first official Chinese investigators in this country worked with me for a number of years on issues of great concern affecting issues in and around Sydney and issues relating to the corruption that spread into our political processes. There is much that one can say about those years I spent, years of great and vast concern about my country.
The purpose of having an independent commission against corruption is to bring us up to date with developments elsewhere in the world where the club operates. The club comprises those dedicated towards enriching themselves and their friends at the expense of the community, and it is a very great challenge for a young person to try to understand the club and to see what was done in those years. It is probably an appropriate time for me to say to this Assembly that in the 1970s whilst working in Brisbane on some matters I came to conclusions about corruption in Queensland, having worked there on and off for 18 months. At one stage I worked there in a situation where I had to track down a public official who was providing documents - passports in fact and other documents - to give people another identity, and that official had a sideline. This official was providing passport information on attractive young Australian women who applied for a passport in Brisbane. That information was provided to the proprietors of a nightclub in Brisbane, and those proprietors would somehow try to get alongside the passport applicant to see whether they could seduce her or otherwise turn her into a heroin drug trafficker.
That was no concern of mine in my task, but I reported that matter to policemen named in the Fitzgerald inquiry. I understand that a policeman in Sydney was brought up to deal with that. His name was Rogerson. I also learnt to my very great distress and sadness later on that a nightclub involved in that counter-heroin racket was burnt down and a number of young persons lost their lives. Of course I am dedicated to the exposure of corruption. It does not extend to being obsessed. It extends, Mr Speaker, to the fact that - - -
Mr Moore: I rise on a point of order, Mr Speaker. I wonder whether I could actually draw attention to the fact that there is no quorum in here at the moment.
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