Michaelia Cash in new effort to railroad Collaery with secret evidence

Christian Porter’s announcement of his departure from politics has made little difference to the Coalition’s ongoing attempt to jail Bernard Collaery and cover up the crimes of the Howard government.

This morning at 9.15, lawyers for Attorney-General Michaelia Cash attempted to effectively ignore her defeat at the hands of the ACT Supreme Court in October and introduce evidence against Collaery that he and his lawyers would not be able to see and refute.

In October, judges Murrell, Burns and Wigney overruled trial judge David Mossop’s decision to grant former AG Porter’s application to use judge-only evidence against Collaery under the National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act 2004. The judges rejected Porter’s argument that there was a threat to national security and there was greater risk “of damage to public confidence in the administration of justice” by allowing it.

Cash sought this morning to introduce what she claims is different judge-only evidence against Collaery, hoping that Mossop will ignore his reversal by the superior court and allow it.

Remarkably — or given the constant level of inappropriate interference that has characterised the role of the Commonwealth in this trial perhaps not so remarkably — Cash sought to do this without any hearing, demanding that the introduction of her secret evidence be considered without Collaery’s legal team being able to contest it in the courtroom, but merely on the papers.

Because of the delays caused by Porter’s and Cash’s constant and incessant attempts to cover up the prosecution and spare John Howard and Alexander Downer from embarrassment, Collaery faces his fourth year with the trial hanging over him, after being advised in 2018 he would be charged.

Porter will soon be gone, but the appalling stain he has left on justice in Australia will remain for years.