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Police asked to investigate porn ring at State Government Office

Police asked to investigate porn ring at State Government Office
Date
October 17, 2014
Henrietta Cook and Josh Gordon
Australia       *
Don Coulson, former adviser to Ted Baillieu. Photo: Simon Schluter
Don Coulson, former adviser to Ted Baillieu. Photo: Simon Schluter
State and federal police will be asked to investigate allegations a sacked senior government advisor for ex-premier Ted Baillieu accumulated and distributed hardcore pornography from 1 Treasury Place.
Labor will refer details of the pornography-ring scandal that has rocked Spring Street to Victoria Police chief commissioner Ken Lay and Australian Federal Police on Friday to determine whether any laws have been broken.
Sources said bestiality-related videos and “granny porn” were found on USBs stored in a drawer in former adviser Don Coulson’s office. He claims the USBs were shared between Coalition advisors, MPs and ministers.
Mr Coulson, a former Freedom of Information officer, is suing the government for wrongful dismissal after he lost his job shortly after Denis Napthine took over as Premier.
“It is alleged by Mr Coulson that his office was used as a drop-off point for memory sticks containing videos and images described as ‘hard-core’,” a letter to police from shadow attorney-general Martin Pakula said.
Mr Coulson said erotic material on the USBs was never watched in his office – and always viewed by Liberal staff and MPs at home or in a hotel room. He said he did not know exactly what was stored the USBs, but it was all legal.
“They were never accessed in work. It was something people took home or used on their own equipment in a hotel room,” he said.
The government said in court documents that Mr Coulson’s office was overflowing with a “considerable amount of pornographic material”, and it could be inferred he watched the X-rated material in the government building.
Mr Coulson said the Napthine government’s decision to raise allegations about the pornography was “stupid” and politically destructive.
The former adviser said he was sacked with “no explanation”.
“To say my office overflowed with pornography is a total lie. The Premier has made those allegations and I think it is one of the most stupid political decisions the government has made,” he said.
Mr Coulson was dismissed on March 14, 2013, eight days after Dr Napthine become Premier. The Freedom of Information officer was not given a formal reason for his dismissal, but it is believed Dr Napthine had concerns about his performance and the shambolic state of his office.
It is understood that a legal adviser was appointed to undertake a full audit of his office, which took several weeks to complete. It was during the audit that what was described as a “huge amount of porn” was uncovered, including some material that was “bestiality related”.
The government was advised there was nothing illegal about the material being in Mr Coulson’s office, although the issue was later cited by government lawyers as a justification for his dismissal.
The government also undertook a background check on Mr Coulson and found he was dismissed from the Department of Transport in 2001 for using work resources to view and download pornography.
As Parliament sat for the last time before the state election, Deputy Opposition Leader James Merlino said the allegations were shocking and needed to be referred to both state and federal police agencies.
“We’re talking about an organised pornographic ring in the Premier’s office,” he told radio station 3AW. “This would be breaking every rule, every code of conduct, common sense, decency.”
Opposition attorney-general Martin Pakula also called for a police investigation. “It sounds like the Premier’s office is like a branch of video sleazy,” he said.
Dr Napthine lashed out at Mr Coulson on Thursday morning, saying the allegations of pornography being shared among senior staff and elected members of parliament were coming from a “disaffected, sacked, former employee”.
“When his office was cleaned out there was totally inappropriate material found,” he said of Mr Coulson.
“At that stage I was advised the material was inappropriate but there was no evidence of illegal material.”
He said Mr Coulson’s allegations were “bizarre, absurd” and “not worth the paper they are written on” and he was fired for matters which had nothing to do with pornography. This meant Mr Coulson was not entitled to other pay-outs, he said.
Dr Napthine said he was told about the material in March last year and hardly dealt with Mr Coulson when he was a senior aide.
“I never saw the material and I don’t particularly want to see the material,” he said.
In its counter-claim, the government alleges Mr Coulson breached his duties because he was “found to have stored a considerable amount of pornographic material in his office” and “accessed and/or viewed a considerable amount of pornographic material” in his office.
It claimed this activity could be inferred because Mr Coulson “stored a considerable amount of pornographic material in his office” and, in 2001, he was “subject to disciplinary action for downloading a large amount of pornography during work hours and using the resources of his public service employer”.
Mr Coulson fired back in his own defence, stating in a response that the allegation is “vague, embarrassing and lacking in particulars and is liable to be struck out on that basis”.
Mr Coulson is reportedly disappointed with the government’s treatment of him and has hinted he might decide to publicly expose the identities of the MPs and parliamentary staff involved in the porn ring.
“I reconsider that quite regularly,” he told News Corp Australia. “But I’m not anywhere near that at the moment.”
-with Steve Lillebuen and Nick Toscano

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victoria-state-election-2014/police-asked-to-investigate-porn-ring-at-state-government-office-20141016-117809.html#ixzz3GO6uDYk4      *

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Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victoria-state-election-2014/police-asked-to-investigate-porn-ring-at-state-government-office-20141016-117809.html#ixzz3GO6j871j

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