By Stephen Robson
PERTH — Former Labor Premier Brian Burke was found guilty on July 13 of four counts of cheating. Two days later he was sentenced to two years jail on each charge, to be served concurrently.
The charges arise out claims for $17,000 worth of travel expenses which Burke claimed illegally between 1984 and 1986. The former premier admitted to the court that he had no right to claim the expenses because as premier these costs had already been met by his imprest account. (Imprest accounts provide expenses for MPs in interstate and overseas travel.)
The money Burke received went straight into his bank account to reduce his overdraft. In defending himself Burke claimed that he signed documents without realising their importance.
Burke is one of the high profile figures from the WA Inc period of the 1980s where Labor and big business carried out a very public liaison.
Character witnesses for Burke at his trial read like a Who's Who of Labor politicians — federal Minister of Finance Kim Beazley, former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke, WA Opposition leader Ian Taylor, former WA Attorney-General Joe Berinson, former state ALP cabinet ministers David Smith and Keith Wilson and former state ALP leader Ron Davies were some who praised the former WA premier.
Beazley described Burke as a "compassionate man of the greatest integrity ... He has contributed greatly to public life." Hawke said: "In all my dealings with him I found Brian Burke to be an honourable man. He was assiduous in advancing at every opportunity the interests of Western Australia, to which he had an unbounded commitment."
But the collective solidarity of the Labor notables was not enough to keep Burke out of jail.
Burke is not the first nor the last of WA's politicians and businesspeople to find themselves in court as the fallout of WA Inc continues, although he now enjoys the dubious honour of being the first Australian head of government to be convicted of a criminal offence since federation in 1901. Other who have faced or will face the courts include:
- Ray O'Connor, Liberal premier from 1982-83 will stand trial in 1995 on a charge of stealing and two charges of criminal defamation. He is alleged to have stolen a $25,000 cheque from Bond Corporation in 1984.
- David Parker, ALP deputy premier from 1988-90 will stand trial in the district court at the beginning of September on 11 charges of stealing $57,978 from his campaign funds during 1986 and 1989 election campaigns.
- Former business high flyer Alan Bond was already jailed in May 1992, spending three months in jail before being acquitted after a retrial. Bond now faces a preliminary hearing on July 18 on fraud charges relating to the sale of Edouard Manet's La Promenade.
- Laurie Connell, former director of Rothwells, was found guilty in May of conspiring to pervert the course of justice by paying a jockey to stay out of Australia and was jailed for five years. His appeal will be heard in August.
- Casino owner Dallas Dempster was fined $4000 in May after being found guilty of being knowingly concerned in the falsification of a Rothwells document.
- Businessperson Kevin Parry was charged in December 1993 with stealing $75,000 from the Government Employees Superannuation Board in July 1985. The preliminary hearing will start on August 15.
The 1980s in WA were touted at the time as proof positive of the success of pragmatic Labor governments. Today the ALP leadership here and in Canberra is mute with embarrassment.
Yet the far bigger crime highlighted by WA Inc has not gone on trial, nor is it likely to.
The crime against society is the fact that Australia's taxation system has been used to fund massive donations to help big business. In return, Labor and the Coalition have been thanked for their generosity with massive donations to their election campaign funds.
These issues have not been highlighted by the mainstream media.
If progressive forces draw out these lessons as clearly and forcefully as they, the margin to manoeuvre by the big business parties of Labor and Liberal will be restricted as much as possible — and WA Inc may have served some progressive purpose.