AUSTRALIAN BIOGRAPHY RAY STUDY GUIDE CATHERINE SHIRLEY WHITROD SERIES 8 (1915-2003 ) Policeman INTRODUCTION ISSUE 29 ISSUE his program is an episode of Australian Biography (Series 8) produced by the Na- He took a strong AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION SCREEN AUSTRALIAN tional Interest Program of Film Australia. This well-established series profiles some Tof the most extraordinary Australians of our time. Many have had a major impact stance against on the nation’s cultural, political and social life. All are remarkable and inspiring people who have reached a stage in their lives where they can look back and reflect. Through corruption and revealing in-depth interviews, they share their stories - of beginnings and challenges, landmarks and turning points. In so doing, they provide us with an invaluable archival was dedicated record and a unique perspective on the roads we, as a country, have travelled. to improving SYNOPSIS standards and lifting the level of educa- standards and tion within the force. In this interview, Ray Ray Whitrod came to national prominence looks back over a long and distinguished when he resigned as Queensland’s Com- career, giving a fascinating insight into lifting the level of missioner of Police as a protest against police culture. corruption. It was a very public stand that education within 1 enhanced his reputation as an officer of Born in Adelaide in 1915, his memories unusual integrity, dedicated to improving of childhood are marked by his family’s the force. ABOVE: RAY WHITROD IN 2001 8 AUSTRALIAN BIOGRAPHY RAY WHITROD Great Depression, an economic slump which started in the US & Europe in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. The Depression affected all world economies and rendered millions of workers jobless. By 1932 the total value of world trade had fallen by more than half. QUESTIONS 1. List the effects of the Depression on the Australian economy and work- force. 2. How did the Australian Government deal with unemployment of such a massive scale? 3. What effect did the Depression have on the education of average Austral- ians? 4. How, internationally, did the Depres- sion affect politics and the rise of extremist forces? BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT poverty - always leaving the table hun- 1976, he quit in outrage after Premier Jo THE COLD WAR AND THE FORMATION gry, embarrassed at school by his cast- Bjelke-Petersen insisted on promoting of- OF ASIO off clothes. Like many others during the ficers who were known to be corrupt. The Depression, he took a swag to the country resulting public controversy eventually led The Australian Security Intelligence Or- looking for any job he could get - a time to the infamous Fitzgerald Inquiry. ganisation (ASIO) is Australia’s security he describes as his lowest point. service. Australia had several security After retirement, Ray Whitrod continued organisations between 1915 and 1949, Things changed when he met Mavis, his commitment to serve the Australian beginning with the formation of a branch seven years his senior and a teacher. public. He lectured in criminology at the of the British ‘Central Counter-Espionage She gave him a much-needed boost in Australian National University, worked Bureau’ as part of an Empire-wide ap- confidence and her parents encouraged with cancer patients, visited prisons paratus. him to apply for the police force, where and, together with his wife Mavis, was he was immediately made a detective due the driving force behind the establish- In the late 1940s the formation of the to the matriculation level he had attained ment of the South Australian Victims of Soviet Bloc under the Warsaw Pact at high school. Crime Service. generated widespread public fear of a third World War and the era of Cold War With the advent of World War Two, Ray CURRICULUM LINKS confrontation began. joined the RAAF as a navigator. He had a hard time readjusting to family life after Australian Biography: Ray Whitrod will On 16th March, 1949, Prime Minister Ben four intense years of fighting, but by the have interest and relevance for students Chifley directed that a security service be late 1940s, with the Cold War at its peak, from middle to senior secondary levels. established to counter security leaks from Ray had settled down into a new role, Curriculum links include English, Modern a ‘spy ring’ operating in Australia, which helping to set up the Australian Security History, Politics, Citizenship and Society was being run from the Soviet Embassy. Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Life Skills, Society and Culture, Media Studies and Legal Studies. [Today] ASIO’s main role is to gather infor- Other appointments included head of the mation and produce intelligence that will Commonwealth Investigation Service, BEFORE WATCHING enable it to warn the government about which he helped transform into the Fed- activities or situations that might endan- eral Police, and Police Commissioner in HISTORICAL & LEGAL CONTEXT ger Australia’s national security. The ASIO New Guinea before he accepted the con- Act defines ‘security’ as the protection of troversial Queensland posting in 1970. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT Australia and its people from espionage, AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION THE GREAT DEPRESSION sabotage, politically motivated violence, His reform efforts met with strong op- the promotion of communal violence, at- ISSUE 29 position, both from within the force and Ray Whitrod’s early life and outlook were tacks on Australia’s defence system, and the Queensland Government. Finally, in affected by his experiences during the acts of foreign interference. 2 RAY WHITROD WITH HIS WIFE MAVIS ASIO focuses on terrorists, people who THE FITZGERALD INQUIRY INTO POLICE point that as contact with members of may act violently for political reasons, CORRUPTION the public tended to be in situations of and people who may clandestinely obtain distress, conflict and hostility, members sensitive government information (spies) One of the most dramatic lapses in tended to retain the views and attitudes or otherwise harm Australia’s interests in institutional and personal integrity in they brought into the Force. These atti- order to further their own causes or the contemporary Australia was in the State tudes became internalized, so that after interests of foreign governments.1 of Queensland during the 1970s and years of service they became inflexible 1980s. and outdated. By this time they had DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS usually been promoted to a position of In 1989, the Fitzgerald report set aside power. 1. Discuss the threat posed to Australia a whole chapter dealing with the notion by the Cold War, and how it was dif- of a ‘Police Culture’. The report detailed The existence of a siege mentality in some ferent in nature and threat from the that as most police are recruited as school police cultures results in an emphasis of previous World Wars. leavers, they enter an environment where crime control over crime prevention, 2. Discuss the concept of the protection they work and socialize almost exclusively thereby isolating the police from the of the State by the establishment of with team mates. Fitzgerald made the communities and the people they serve. a national security organisation within Australia. 3. Compare and contrast the original need for ASIO with its current role. 4. What are the checks and balances that need to be in place in a democ- racy when a security organisation is operating? BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT POLICING AND POWER Policing is a form of social control – “ac- tivities directed at preserving the security of a particular social order. 2 The reality is that the police fulfill a diver- sity of functions: including crime control, traffic control, combating terrorism. Underlying all their actions however is the power to wield legal sanctions and ultimately use force. What clearly distinguishes the police is their legitimate right to use force - as the repository of the states monopolization of coercive powers in society. 3 DISCUSSION AND ACTIVITIES 1. Discuss the relationship between police and citizens, outlining what ISSUE 29 a society should ideally expect of its police. AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION 2. Discuss the role of education in as- sisting police to manage their jobs on a day to day basis. 3. Research background material that has been written about contemporary policing issues, paying particular at- tention to the groups in society who feel that they attract an undue amount of attention from police. 3 RAY WHITROD IN RAAF UNIFORM 8 AUSTRALIAN BIOGRAPHY RAY WHITROD It moves police work in line with a re-ac- THE PLACE OF THE BIOGRAPHY IN the Victims of Crime Rights Bill tive stance, as opposed to the desirable CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY that Ray set up through the United pro-active position. Nations? In what ways is this UN Oral History is information about the past declaration important? When Sergeant Raymond Well Whitrod collected by interviewing people about • Find out about recent legal re- took over as Police Minister on 1 Septem- their lives. It is an important source of forms regarding victims of crime ber 1970 his main aim for his three year information for family and personal his- in your state or territory. term was to attempt to make corruption tory. Oral History interviews are pieces • Discuss the ’new’ concept of practically obsolete. This however was not of historical evidence of a person’s past Restorative Justice. What is its to be the case, mainly due to the strong experience or of events in their lives. It focus and primary assumptions? ‘broderbond’ nature of the Queensland can be used with other pieces of evi- Much of the original ideas of Re- police force. Of the eighteen charges of dence such as photographs and entries storative Justice are based upon criminal nature against police officers that from diaries. 5 community justice processes Whitrod sought, every one of these failed.