In February 2019
Malcolm Hyde was disqualified as commissioner, leaving McMurdo as sole commissioner for the length of the enquiry, after it was discovered that Gobbo had been a periodic paid informer for Victoria Police since 1993 which included a period when Hyde was working there. At the same time it was revealed that up to 6 other legal professionals are still acting as informants. Victoria Police also provided information listing
court clerks,
legal secretaries,
solicitors and a non registered self-proclaimed legal professional as people who appeared in their files regarding previous information provided. Details were not, however, provided for an additional practicing lawyer who was providing information to police due as they were a murder suspect at the time. In addition, former lawyer
Joseph Acquaro, who was shot to death in March 2016, had given Victoria Police information on his former client Francesco “Frank” Madafferi. At that time Victoria Police stated that, of these legal professionals, there was only one possible case of unethical behaviour. In May 2020 it was reported that the number of legal professionals being investigated by the Royal Commission was now "at least a dozen", of which 2 were
judges, including some that provided information during the period 2014–2016 whilst police were dealing with the consequences of working with Gobbo. The Victoria Police legal team initially included Brendan Murphy , the inaugural Victorian
Public Interest Monitor, however Murphy was removed from the role after raising concerns with the extent of public interest immunity claims. Saul Holt appeared for Victoria Police. Due to the importance of the Royal Commission,
Victoria Legal Aid created a scheme for those given notice to appear or granted leave to appeal, whereby they would provide for legal fees for appearances before the enquiry but not for the preparation of submissions or for civil or criminal cases arising out of the Royal Commission. Additionally, it was disclosed that Gobbo's legal fees, including Peter Collinson , were being paid for by the Victorian Government. A call for public submissions was made on 7February 2019 ahead of the inaugural hearing on 15February 2019. Public hearings into the conduct of Gobbo and Victoria Police occurred over the period 14March 2019 to 21February 2020 and hearing into policy and practice over the period 7May to 13May 2020. which, combined with a
suppression order, were needed to protect the identity and safety of those involved. During testimony Victoria Police were represented by Justin Hannebery and Renee Enbom who frequently called for information to be suppressed with around 370 exclusion or non-disclosure orders in operation. The Victorian Inquiries Act, under which Royal Commissions in Victoria are constituted, gives police control over how
Public Interest Immunity (or PII) is applied, which complicated an enquiry called after Victoria Police failed in their court bids to keep their interactions with Gobbo secret. In response to the extensive use of
public interest immunity claims and the difficulties involved in keeping track of what information was public knowledge and pseudonyms, including those which changed multiple times during the Royal Commission, McMurdo commented that "It is a bit Kafkaesque, isn't it?". with public hearings beginning on 14March with the evidence of a Victoria Police officer who appeared under a pseudonym.
Neil Paterson Over the period 27-29March 2019 Assistant Commissioner
Neil Paterson testified Patterson also testified that even though handlers raised concern in 2008 and Gobbo was officially deregistered as an informer on 12January 2009, During Paterson's testimony it was disclosed that information obtained via Gobbo was still being used even whilst Gobbo was suing Victoria Police. Whilst Paterson was testifying Winneke questioned him regarding the "significant history" of the relationship between Dale and Gobbo which was left out of his statement to the Royal Commission. was facing drugs charges in 2003 he was in constant contact with Gobbo which included providing her with extensive hand written notes which she then passed on to Victoria Police. Paul Dale was later charged with the murder of police informer
Terence Hodson based on information provided by Gobbo and
Carl Williams but the charges were dropped when Gobbo, known as WitnessF by the prosecution, refused to testify and Williams was
killed in jail.
Stuart Bateson On 1-2July, 19-22, 28November and 2December 2019, Victoria Police Commander
Stuart Bateson appeared before the Royal Commission Bateson also admitted destroying an unsigned draft
witness statement after the witness altered what they told police citing security reasons and did not tell the court that their evidence had changed. In response, counsel assisting queried the significance of a witness changing their statement from "I didn't think it was going to be a murder" to "I think there was going to be a murder" after a visit from Gobbo who had been sceptical of the truth of the statement, to which to which Bateson replied "when I'm getting asked questions in the witness box ... it's clear that the final product is the only product."
Sandy White (pseudonym) Officer Sandy White, Gobbo's former handler and head of the Source Development Unit appeared under a pseudonym on 30–31July, 1–2August and 5–8August 2019. White also talked about the mid 2000s case of a client of Gobbo who was arrested for
drug trafficking after she provided information that led to their arrest. Due to the
conflict of interest Victoria Police ordered Gobbo to stop acting for them. White said that when Gobbo failed to comply, he considered arresting her due to the possibility that she might be perverting the course of justice but felt that there were insufficient grounds. It was also disclosed that Gobbo suggested improvements to the deception case against Zaharoula Mokbel after warning that the brief of evidence in the case was weak. In talking about this, White agreed that it was legally privileged and it was not appropriate to be passed on.
Gavin Ryan Former Victoria Police detective Gavan Ryan, who headed the investigation into the
murders of Terrence and Christine Hodson, appeared before the Royal Commission on 9and 13-15August 2019. testified on 29–30October, 1and 11–12November 2019. Buick testified that the Purana task force was concentrating on solving murders rather than being concerned with the ethics.
Graham Ashton When the Royal Commission was first announced the Victorian Premier said that he did not think that Current Victoria Police Commissioner
Graham Ashton was involved in handling of Gobbo. Ashton, who was previously head of the police watchdog, testified over the period 9–11December 2019 that he would not have wanted to know that Gobbo was an informer whilst working in the watchdog role as it did not relate to misconduct or corruption. Ashton also stated that he first became aware of the role of Gobbo as an informer in 2007 although he was unaware of her earlier periods as an informer until the Royal Commission. Winneke suggested, based on diary notes, that Overland had told actually told Ashton one year earlier. whilst they were about to interview Gobbo about corruption allegations although Ashton had no memory of it. During testimony, the 2011 action of then Deputy Commissioner Ashton in ordering an internal investigation as a response to several court cases involving Gobbo was discussed including the fact that Ashton did not notify prosecutors or defence lawyers. At the Royal Commission Ashton claimed that reporting it to his bosses discharged his responsibilities in the matter. Ashton admitted that although the prosecutors from the commonwealth in the
Tomato tins ecstasy case would normally have been told of the issues surrounding the case, known to Victoria Police to be tainted by their relationship with Gobbo since at least November 2011, they were not informed of the situation.
Ken Jones During his testimony at the Royal Commission on 13December 2019, When he was initially made aware of the role of Gobbo he approached the
Office of Police Integrity, a former Supreme Court justice and the
Victorian Ombudsman in a failed attempt to initiate an investigation. Jones also made a written submission to the Commission stating his belief that prison staff were involved in the
Barwon Prison murder of
Carl Williams which caused the collapse of the trial of Paul Dale for the murders of Terence and Christine Hodson. Ashton headed
Taskforce Purana which was set up in 2003 to investigate the
Melbourne gangland killings. Evidence presented prior to his testimony indicated that Overland sanctioned the use of Gobbo. During testimony Overland claimed that although using Gobbo as an informer was dangerous and put her at risk her life was already under threat due to her work acting as lawyer for
Tony Mokbel and he was not aware that she was breaching legal requirements. Overland admitted both that he was the most senior officer who knew about the role of Gobbo and police may have acted illegally in how information from LawyerX whilst agreeing with the statement from a recording of Gobbo that "the ethics was f---ed". Whilst Overland was testifying he was presented with the 2006 case of a drug cook who told Gobbo, their close friend and lawyer, the location of a drug lab which Gobbo proceeded to pass on to the police. Gobbo went on to represent the cook and encourage them to provide information on Mokbel whilst also advising police on how to obtain co-operation. In response Overland accepted that, even though he wasn't aware of the details at the time, he should have been due to the potential damage to the investigation. After initially claiming that the
Director of Public Prosecutions was kept informed of Gobbo's role in defending three killers who ended up implicating each other Overland admitted that the DPP was not informed of Gobbo's role as an informant. Overland also said that it was a common practice to not make notes about Gobbo due to concerns about the information becoming known. was announced on 20December 2019 just hours before the Royal Commission wrapped up hearings for the year. The diaries were found after Overland's former chief of staff
Shane Patton heard Overland's testimony and recalled that he had seen diaries whilst packing up Overland's office when he left Victoria Police. Whilst three diaries were discovered, a gap in coverage of October 2006 to November 2007 caused Overland to admit that a fourth diary may exist. Among the other changes presented was the claim that Christine Nixon had been informed of the recruitment of Gobbo on 29September 2005 which contradicted her earlier evidence. however Nixon ultimately only ended up appearing before the Royal Commission on 18December 2019. McRae stated that then Police Minister
Bob Cameron was briefed in 2010 about the settlement given to Gobbo after she sued Victoria Police but may not have been told that she had been an informer. McRae also testified that in 2010 he met with Victorian Government Solicitor
John Cain and director of the
Office of Police Integrity Michael Strong to discuss the settlement of the civil case that Gobbo had submitted against Victoria Police in which Gobbo's role as an informed was discussed. Cain did not appear before the Royal Commission but said in a submitted statement that he did not have any knowledge of the role of Gobbo whilst he was Victorian Government Solicitor and was astounded when he found out about it in 2015. McRae also said that he had hoped that IBAC would investigate the effect of Gobbo's actions including providing them with case studies but was told that they did not have a remit to investigate.
Nicola Gobbo In August 2019 Gobbo's lawyer Peter Collinson told the commission that Gobbo was motivated to inform on her clients as she wanted "to do the right thing" and help put the Mokbel clan in jail and had no financial incentive to become an informant. This contrasted with the view of Ryan who claimed that Gobbo was motivated by feelings of guilt over the
murders of Terrence and Christine Hodson although Officer White expressed scepticism at that theory and when she testified Gobbo summed up her reasoning as "Looking back, I wanted to belong". After initially expressing a willingness to appear before the Royal Commission Gobbo applied to be excused from giving evidence on mental and physical health grounds. Whilst the application to be excused was waiting adjudication, and shortly after her lawyers said on 4December 2019 that she was too unwell both physically and mentally, Gobbo, without telling her lawyers, flew overseas and provided an interview for the
ABC current affairs program
7.30 which then aired on 10December 2019. During the interview Gobbo denied betraying her clients and claimed that Victoria Police "fed her to the wolves" and claimed that it would take her "more than 1,000 hours" to provide a statement to the Royal Commission. McMurdo also said that she had no confidence that Gobbo would present evidence and ordered the release of phone transcripts of lengthy conversations, not taken under oath, between Gobbo and Royal Commission staff from earlier in March, April and June 2019. Gobbo testified from an undisclosed location for 5days finishing on 11February 2020 via video link with only McMurdo able to see the video following a confidential submission asking to have her image concealed with some suggesting that she had changed her appearance since her interview with 7:30. Whilst discussing the aftermath of a drug bust Gobbo admitted that she should have sought advice from the ethics committee of the Victorian Bar about representing both Azzam Ahmed and Abby Haynes whilst working with Haynes to provide information on Ahmed. After initially having no recollection of the conversation even though "It's something you would think would stick in your mind", Gobbo conceded that she had told police after she was shown text messages claiming credit for it. Gobbo also testified that the Mokbel family would speak openly in front of her including discussing drug deals and one of them vouched for Gobbo to their associates. She also mentioned saying to police that "If you people don't know what you're doing," she said to them, "I'll end up dead, and there will be a royal commission". Gobbo testified that her handlers had asked for the phone used to contact them to be returned and if arrested or approached by
Federal Police she was instructed not to talk to them. Whilst talking about the fees that she charged those that she was reporting on to Victoria Police, Gobbo conceded that it was ethically wrong but did not concede that she was not entitled to the money or via her actions "obtain financial advantage or obtain money by deception".
Ken Lay Former Commissioner
Ken Lay testified on 10 February 2020.
Ronald (Ron) Iddles Former Detective Senior Sergeant Ronald (Ron) Iddles appeared before the Royal Commission on 13-14February 2020. When presented evidence by counsel for Victoria Police at the Royal Commission, Iddles admitted that the confession existed.
Stephen (Steve) Leane Former Assistant Commissioner Stephen (Steve) Leane of Victoria Police who was head of the professional standards command in 2014 when information about the role of Gobbo started becoming more widely know, appeared in front of the Royal Commission on 8February 2020. Pope also appeared on 19February 2020 when he denied claims of being the source of the 2014 leak that Gobbo was registered human source called WitnessF in the
Paul Dale case. Murphy discussed the newly implemented policy of requiring lawyers, doctors, journalists or priests, that is those who might come into contact with legally privileged information, to be unanimously approved by the Victoria Police ethics committee before they are registered as an informer with an Assistant Commissioner taking ultimate responsibility for the decision. In particular Murphy was concerned that the new approach would not provide the same level of accountability that would be provided by making an individual responsible. Both the submissions and the responses were published on 1September 2020 followed by the publishing of further submissions ahead of the delivery of the final report to the Victorian Government on 30November 2020. The Office of Public Prosecutions made a submission which identified that prosecution of those identified by the Royal Commission requires a brief of evidence rather than just the findings of a Royal Commission saying "Any recommendation that an investigative agency consider any such offences is better effected by a direct referral to the agency itself". with the full transcripts, barring redactions, of the Royal Commission published in December 2020 and available online. After the enquiry finished McMurdo said that the welfare of Gobbo and her children was an item of concern throughout proceedings. == Report and recommendations ==