Purcell's ghost will haunt Anna Bligh ...

Excerpt from the Courier Mail:

Purcell's ghost will haunt Anna Bligh

22 February 2008

Unfortunately for Anna Bligh, former minister Pat Purcell sits on the back benches of the Queensland Parliament like Banquo's Ghost.

The plot reversal is that, unlike the apparition from Macbeth, all the guests can see Purcell while Premier Anna Bligh would like to pretend he is invisible.

She could never have sacked him as a politician but a bit more forceful leadership might have rid us of his malevolent presence.

He will go now at a time of his choosing which, I guess, will be at a time when he can max out his superannuation entitlements.

Bligh's slowness to recognise the ongoing problem of Purcell can at best be attributed to misplaced political loyalty and at worst to political obstinacy. But why she descended to unplumbed depths of political hair-splitting with her initial coyness over the curious case of Purcell confounds me. She declined to define as a lie Purcell's initial version of events that led to him being charged with assaulting a couple of his Department of Emergency Services minions.

Purcell first described his contretemps with State Emergency Services director Eddie Bennet and Energy Management Queensland deputy executive director Stephen Young as a "verbal bollocking". Then last week he admitted: "I struck both men in a manner which was both unprovoked and inappropriate."

"You can describe it in whatever language you see fit," Bligh said.

I found fit to describe it as a lie. In fact, I found difficulty in describing it as anything but a lie.

And I'd describe as an insult to the public intelligence Purcell's oblique suggestion that comments made to the media were misconstrued.

It is not illegal to lie to the media, however, it is at least disturbing that a politician should use the media as an intermediary to lie to the people who elect him and pay his salary.

While the semantics of Purcell's affection for the truth cause me little problem, much else puzzles me.

While his behaviour was clearly inappropriate (Management 101: Bosses shall not bop workers), it probably caused more injury to the victims' pride than to their skulls.

However, whatever the murky (if relatively trivial events) that led to an inquiry by the Crime and Misconduct Commission, the fact remains that Purcell was charged with the criminal offence of common assault, which can attract a jail term of up to three years.

A conviction would have had catastrophic results for his career and all his dreams of a comfortable retirement. Purcell appeared in court charged with assault and the legal clock began to tick.

Then last Wednesday, the Magistrates' Court was told there was a "significant prospect" the case might resolve itself. Come Thursday, Purcell issued his apology and minutes later the court was told the charges had been dropped because the parties had settled out of court.

Remember this was a criminal charge, not a civil action launched by aggrieved parties and hungry lawyers.

Normally, when a criminal case reaches this stage it is not the prerogative of the victims, complainants or witnesses to decide whether it should proceed. The time for mediation, shaking hands and making up is all over.

But not in this case. At the 11th hour, Purcell admitted his sins (although his not guilty plea is a matter of record) and the charges were dropped. Many cases are dropped before trial, but normally not because of a kiss-and-cuddle deal.

And not normally when they involve high-profile people and high principles.

Can we now expect a spate of dropped charges after last-minute contrition from thugs, or is this reserved for politicians?

It would be interesting to see how a court would rule on proportionate blame between Purcell, Bennet and Young for this appalling waste of public time and money. Bennet and Young may have started off as victims, but they appear to have become party to what is little more than a tawdry exercise in plea bargaining.

The three may have made up, but our faith in the legal system is badly bruised.

And the longer Purcell sits in our Parliament and taunts our sense of fairness, the more uncomfortable his presence will become for Bligh.

See - Purcell's ghost will haunt Anna Bligh.