The Prime Minister has officially received the Herbert Lord report on the DFC Commission of Inquiry. Cabinet Secretary Bobby Leslie confirmed that he received the report on Thursday. But because the Prime Minister was on tour in Toledo, it was only handed to him this morning.
7NEWS has learned that the Lord report is 93 pages long and offers a number of substantial recommendations. Reported to be included among them is that the DFC's senior executive management be held accountable for breakdowns in policy and procedure and that the report be forwarded to the DPP for review. So, with the Lord report having been officially received, the interpretation seems to be that the commission is closed, and its deliberations concluded.
That's bad news for the unions and more so for co chair of the commission, Merlene Bailey Martinez who's basically been left holding the bag - and one whose bottom has been ripped out. Bailey Martinez wrote to the Prime Minister last week Thursday asking him not to accept the Lord report. She also wrote to Lord objecting to what she called a unilateral decision, and urged him not to go down what she called a dishonorable path. For the record, Lord has stated that up to today, he still has not received that letter. Lord's position is that on at least 4 occasions between April and June, he raised the matter of writing the report, and, "received no cooperation."
And it appears, that's how this episode will end - with discord between the Commissioners and no unanimous report, relegating it to a historical footnote. Because while there have been commissions with minority or dissenting positions, it's rare to find one that has failed to come up with a majority or unanimous position.
With the stage set thusly, there's no word yet on whether Bailey-Martinez will still pen her own independent report. She was waiting to question principals of the Novelo's and Universal groups, but with the commission now having been effectively de-commissioned, it's doubtful that she will be able to do that.
