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MR C H NORVILLE 54 THOMAS STREET ASHFIELD NSW 2131 16 JULY 1996 PH: 7978105 COMMISSION SECRETARY INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST

CORRUPTION (ICAC) BOX 500 GPO SYDNEY 2001 Dear Mr Secretary SUMMARY (A) NSW Fire Brigades In-Orders 1996/17 dated 28 June 1996 (encl), forced retirement of Inspector L P Billinghurst due to corrupt conduct in lieu of resignation disciplinary action; (B) Section 11 ICAC Act - The NSW Fire Brigades Commissioner obligation to report corrupt conduct to ICAC; (C) Impropriety by NSW Fire Brigades Commissioner by his failure to discipline Inspector Billinghurst under the FB Act 1989 - Regulation 1992 - PART 3 Disciplinary Provisions; (D)Breach of duty by Fire Brigades Commissioner, S67 FB Act 1989, as his responsibility to maintain the efficiency, discipline and good conduct of the members of fire brigades. SPECIAL REFERENCE: (A) Previous complaints submitted and not acted upon by ICAC, specifically dealing with Freemasonry and vocational corruption. NB my correspondence: 23 Aug 1991; 24 Jan 1992; 1 Jan 1993; tape recording 22 Feb 1993 received by ICAC Feb 1994: 30 Sep 1994; (B) Instruction by ICAC Manager Assessments, Mark Hummerston, 2 Nov 1995, advising that the matter concerning complaint against the Fire Brigades (tape recording 22 Feb 1993), is final and that no correspondence will be considered. The promulgation, Fire Brigades In-Orders 1996/17 dated 28 June 1996, officially sanctions the resignation of Inspector L P Billinghurst who was accused of corrupt conduct whilst acting in his capacity as a Fire Brigades officer under Section 10 FB Act at the Departments Fire Safety Division. Another officer Inspector J Ryan was also involved to a lesser extent but was given a more lenient penalty of a transfer out of Fire Safety Division onto the standard roster (shift work). No charges were preferred in either case and therefore the disciplinary provisions of the Fire Brigades Act and Regulation were set aside in preference to arbitrary discipline. It is unlawful to act on a complaint in such a manner. The following issues arise: (a) The Rule of Law must prevail where all members of the service are to be subjected to the same statutory discipline. Preferential treatment of officers leads to differential disciplinary outcomes. This recently occurred when another firefighter S/F Hans Battard was charged for using his sick leave for sport - the Commissioner wishes to impose a harsh penalty, whilst the Union negotiates the charge on a technical point, the merit and lawfulness of differential treatment of senior officers is alluded to by both the Union and the Commissioner. (b) The L P Billinghurst resignation gives this notorious individual a greater superannuation payout than he would have had if he were dismissed, ie services terminated - this is prima facie corruption through maladministration.

[A] 1/1/93 corruption report on Billinghurst

Not correct super is paid irrespective of the cause of the retrenchment, resignation, dismissal or discharge.
(c) The Fire Brigades Commissioner under Section 11 ICAC Act is required to report suspected corrupt conduct to The Commission. If the Commission has

permitted this process to occur unchallenged, ie allowing the chief executive to retain direct responsibility for authorising investigations as well as disciplinary or corrective action, in this instance being totally inadequate, then the Commission is simply maintaining a perfunctory role in corruption prevention. (d) Mr Billinghurst will not be excluded from public sector employment. He enjoys the good character reference supplied by the Fire Brigades institutionalised Freemasons. (e) My extensive submission on the extent of vocational corruption and the practice of institutionalised Freemasonry has gone unchallenged by the ICAC and the Ombudsman. Why? The only qualification given by ICAC was to abstain from any further response without providing full and sufficient reason - the strategy for corruption prevention has more to do with the management of corruption to a tolerable level, to keep it in-house (damage-control) in order to preserve the bureaucratic status quo - at the Government(s) Pleasure. (f) In my case, The Commission, via Mr Hummerston in a belated reponse to my personal employment concerns, refused to believe in full light of the facts, that my previous employer (NSW FB) knew of my whistle blowing activities. REF report 24 Jan 1992. The initial report, 23 Aug 1991, sent to various Departments including the ICAC, was clearly administered to the NSW Fire Brigades by the Office of Public Management. The then Director, Mr Vishnu Prasad, stated in his formal reply (2 Sep 91), that he was sending a copy of my report (23 Aug 91) to then DirectorGeneral NSW Fire Brigades, Mr P. Rath - without realising the serious consequences it would bring upon me and my family. CONCLUSION: We live in society where honest citizens in public and private employment constantly look over their shoulders for reprisals. Should it be assumed that officers of The Commission, the Ombudsmans Office or any other Government authority are not likewise in fear of their own careers? No affirmative action exists for whistle blowers , their families become the hapless victims of organised corruption and maladministration. Yours faithfully

C H Norville Encl

Post Notation: In Special Reference (A) & (B) I inadvertently phone taped a conversation between myself and FB Union Industrial Officer (22/2/92) because of nuisance phone calls I was receiving. The Union Industrial Officer made exceeding remarks about the control of Freemasonry within the NSW Fire Brigades. The relevance being that I had been given a set of FB Freemasons meeting minutes to ICAC and Ombudsman later (1/1/93) which had the names of both LP Billinghurst & JW Ryan both of whom were involved in the above alleged offence of extortion of builder in return for relaxing fire prevention codes in the above 16 July 1996. These FB Officers were working within the Fire Prevention Dept overseeing building construction and practice. Following this above report a combination of complaints against the NSW ICAC is issued to the Parliamentary Committee on the ICAC on 13/12/96 and the same to the NSW Ombudsman 9/4/97. The Ombudsman response 27/10/97 (C/97/1952, C/97/2079, C/97/2080) to the Billinghurst complaint is thence on page 1 & 5.

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