I hate Western Australia's sick kids!

I hate WA's sick kids - at least that's what Premier Roger Cook would have you believe based on his answers in State Parliament yesterday. Apparently anyone questioning the Labour Government's extraordinary donations in recent times ($33M over the past 3 years) on behalf of the taxpayer, is an enemy of Telethon, therefore an enemy of our sick kids (perhaps an enemy of the state?).

In truth, nobody begrudges the State Government for spending taxpayer money to improve the lives and health of our sick children. Not even the people asking the questions of Premier Cook. To pretend they do is merely a deflection. It is the reason that money is channeled through Telethon, rather than directly into our health budget, that leads to the questions being asked.

Whilst Telethon's distribution of received donations is causing some questions to be asked, it is undoubtably how the huge taxpayer funded donations win favour with WA's most powerful man, Kerry Stokes, for Labour Politicians, that is raising the most eyebrows.

This blog is not intended to convince you that Kerry Stokes has too much influence in Western Australia. That’s been done before by others far more knowledgeable and articulate than me. ’Kerry Stokes World of Influence’, an Australian Financial Review article by?Mark Di Stefano?and Max Marson is probably the most comprehensive.

Di Stefano writes,?"For this piece, an investigation of how Stokes has developed the influence that he has, the?Financial Review?spoke to dozens of current and former employees, associates, friends and rivals. Tellingly, none agreed to speak publicly. All say they were fearful of publicly discussing Stokes and his power and influence across the west".

Rivals! Not even rivals will speak out against him? Sounds kind of ‘Godfatherish’ doesn’t it? It's difficult to read it without the term 'Mafia Boss' constantly flashing up in my mind. How any government allowed a situation where one private individual can wield such an extraordinary level of influence in Western Australia defies belief.?

Di Stefano also cites a comment by the only politician brave enough call out the true situation about this state’s leadership, Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas who quipped?“I also want to thank Kerry, the man who really runs the state”.

So, with the case for King Kerry already made out, the purpose of this blog is to ask the question, is anyone prepared to do something about it? Why do I care? I’m glad you asked.

In July 2022, when a journalist from Stokes' paper, The ‘Worst’ Australian (as she called it) approached Commissioner Col Blanch (and subsequently the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC)) to make a complaint about me, she "was accompanied by her employer", according to the CCC. To complain about what exactly???

The answer evidently, based on the content of CCC Commissioner McKechnie’s report, was the repeated and inappropriate disclosure of information that was likely to be of commercial benefit to The West Australian, actions which, in his opinion, amounted to "misconduct". The fact that her "employer" was also in the room, representing The West Australian, infers that The West Australian was aggrieved or involved in some way doesn’t it? So this was not just some personal grievance but related to the journalist's work for The West Australian?

Is anyone else confused by this? A newspaper complained about a purported 'source' providing information to it that afforded it a commercial advantage? Unlikely! Anyone who possesses even a basic ability to identify bullshit when they hear it would know something doesn’t add up. Let’s pretend for one minute that I was in fact ‘a source’, instead of simply disseminating information (part of my role), relevant to my investigations, while doing my best to manage a concealed conflict of interest. If so, don’t media outlets do their utmost best to protect the identity of sources? Why was this any different???

Relationships don't always end well and attempted manipulation of the Police Force disciplinary process to seek revenge by scorned / vindictive ex-partners, husbands and wives etc is not an infrequent occurrence. Fortunately, more often than not, the wise men and women of the WA Police Force Internal Affairs Unit and Ethical Standards Division see such complaints for what they are and treat them accordingly. On this occasion however, that was not the case.?

Instead, powerful people ensured I was thrown under the CCC Bus, a vehicle that was established to detect the most serious cases of corruption and disrupt the most significant organsied crime. Though I had not robbed the state of millions, accepted bribe money, promoted my mates or planted evidence, I accept I made some mistakes. For the most part they were not the one’s claimed by the CCC, exaggerated by Channel Seven News and and sensationalised by The West Australian (which included in it's stories, allegations which are completely false). Irrespective, a very powerful sledgehammer was used to bash down a tack nail. Why??

Could it be that when a journalist with a history of being “somewhat given to overstatement” was accompanied by such a powerful and influential force when airing her grievances, those listening to them, had a diminished sense of objectivity and fairness? I question how many other people making complaints about police officers, police action, or police inaction, have been afforded a personal audience with the Commissioner of Police?

It’s apparent that not only did this journalist receive a far more sympathetic ear than she would have otherwise, efforts to have her own agenda overlooked and deflect attention away from Seven West Media’s culpability were also achieved. For if I was indeed a 'source', as alleged, where stands Chief Editor Anthony De Ceglie in all this considering he repeatedly tasked her to obtain information from me, even when she was on leave? What about King Kerry himself, who in the past has proclaimed “I have never personally become involved in editorial matters..."?

Perhaps then, it was a different Kerry Stokes that tasked that same journalist to request I go on record in an article by The West, criticising Channel Nine. "He is furious at being outbid by Nine for the Cleo story", I was told. I never thought to ask if there was more than one Kerry. Irrespective I declined the request, refusing to get involved in the hypocrisy and competitive tit for tat.

The true story of my “Hero to Zero" journey is yet to be told (“Hero” being the media’s one time word of choice, not mine). It will be told in due course, for anyone interested. It is an astonishing story of how executive interference, bruised egos, jealousy, lies, deception, corruption, politics, selfish agendas, bullying and poor mental health all combined to reduce me from the WA Police Force ‘Poster Boy’ (as some mastheads called it) to Public Enemy in less than 12 months. A classic tear down of the type we so often enjoy in Australia.

Until the full story comes out, rest assured you won't read any factual account of it in the sensationalised columns of The West or on the selectively soft filtered screens of the Channel Seven News. You certainly won't hear a single utterance resulting from disingenuous requests by Seven News daily step counter Jerrie Demasi to 'explain what happened' after accosting me outside a court while supporting a protected witness. Demasi would well have known there was zero chance I would speak to her, particularly with such timing, and in spite of my treatment at the hands of Stokes Empire. 'The Team You Can Trust' led the news with the headline "Cleo Cop Breaks His Silence" despite disclosing to Demasi nothing of my account. My case in point.

Speaking of gutter journalism, you can completely dismiss the defamatory diatribe of Stokes’ attack dog and gossip blogger, Ben Harvey. Harvey, unsurprisingly failed even once, to mention his personal conflict of interest in the matter, or that of his employer (Seven West Media) when taking time out from his comedy routine to write colourful ‘news’ columns about me, mostly based on leaked, unverified and false information.?I guess it's easy to throw defamatory rocks when 'Work Daddy's' pockets contain A$7.45 billion. Anyone doubting Harvey's level of 'top cover' need only watch the last few seconds of his Final Act for 2023, wherein he invites, in fact challenges, any parties aggrieved by his sharp tongue throughout the year to write to this address:

Of course a person with a genuine complaint would write, not to the supplied address, but to industry voluntary regulator, The Australian Press Council. Or would they? Seven West Media is the only non-member major newspaper in Australia. Instead you would have to write to the Independent Media Council, a body formed by Seven West Media in 2012 to "independently" investigate complaints against, well, itself!

The CCC’s repeated hypocrisy will be covered in another blog, but for the purposes of this one, again I question whether Stokes’ influence could be the reason the CCC ignored leaks about its own investigation to Ben Harvey, while simultaneously investigating me for far lesser indiscretions. Leaks about CCC investigations are in fact a criminal offence under the CCC’s own act of parliament.?Perhaps the CCC's own spin doctors decided it wasn't a good time to flush out a rat, whilst simultaneously trying to manage the fallout to come from the revelation one of it's own was sleeping with the enemy.

But this blog isn’t about the agenda of Commissioner McKechnie, his absurd intertwining of religion and CCC business, nor the selective and biased use of investigative powers by the WA Corruption and Crime Commission. I’ll get to them in due course.

Returning to the main topic of this post, surely a revisit by the government’s competition and media watchdogs regarding the degree of influence Stokes has in this state is well overdue. It seems that the first rule in the playbook of Labour Government Ministers and department heads these days is “Keep Kerry Happy”. The second rule is “Don’t upset Kerry”. The CCC has a third “Don’t look in the mirror”.?

Stokes’ reach into government extends far beyond his ability to influence public opinion through media coverage. His army of ex-employees have infiltrated Labour Government media departments everywhere, including the Police, Health and Governor’s office. Spinning stuff-ups and mistakes into low flying aircraft has become big business over the last seven years under Labour.

I think it would be a very worthwhile exercise for the WA Auditor General, to examine the percentage increase of WA Government Agency budgets allocated to their respective Spin (Media) Offices under the Labour Government. And the Auditor General should ask the question why? If Government Agencies, the Police for example, need only objectively and factually report their activities, why the need for such a large investment in “Smoke and Mirrors” departments?

Even if the public accepts Corporate Oligarch’s (see?kerry-stokes-empire-of-shit) , or Labour politicians tripping over themselves to “Keep Kerry Happy” in return for favourable press and endorsement for even better appointments, I question whether the pub test is passed when the leaders of our Public Safety organisations (eg, the WA Police), follow their lead.

Public Safety Officials have been, and will be compromised when they put their own ladder climbing endeavours ahead of the interests of the WA Public.?I have witnessed it myself. And yes, If you are wondering, I can back up that claim, so stay tuned. Or don’t. In fact, if you drop off my LinkedIn Contact list I’ll understand that you are probably bound by the playbook and who could blame you. Indeed, after this blog, I’m expecting to wake up next to a severed horse head.?