The nightmare for whistleblowers
Sunday Tasmanian - 19 October 2003
After any whistleblower takes action there is always fallout,
Simon Bevilacqua discovers
WHEN senior forester Bill Manning broke ranks with his own industry
he embarked on the whistleblower's nightmare.
Two weeks after raising allegations against Forestry Tasmania,
the veteran forest practices officer says he was stripped of his
power.
Mr Manning told a senate committee inquiry in Canberra this month
he was abused and harassed.
He lost his job in Forestry and is now a public servant with Workplace
Standards Tasmania.
Those who know say Mr Manning's nightmare has just begun.
Veterinary pathologist David Obendorf, who blew the whistle on
a Tasmanian government department in the mid-1990s, said Mr Manning
would face vilification.
"The most insidious part of the campaign against him, aside
from a public drive to discredit him, will be attempts to discredit
him behind his back," Dr Obendorf said.
When he blew the whistle on the dismantling of public veterinary
and quarantine services, he said rumours about his private life
and mental stability spread.
"Bill Manning will face this: rumours will circulate to discredit
him, anyone who disagrees with him will support the rumours because
it suits their purpose," Dr Obendorf said.
The path of whistleblower, he said, was so stressful it was difficult
to appear stable. Many whistleblowers developed symptoms similar
to post traumatic stress syndrome.
"These people put their lives and careers on the line and
constant abuse and vilification is hard to handle," Dr Obendorf
said.
He said Mr Manning's survival would depend on whether he could
turn the situation into a positive and use it to become bolder
and stronger.
When Mr Manning addressed the Senate committee inquiry this month
it was the end of a long push to be heard.
A forester with 32 years' experience, he worked for the Forestry
Commission, Forestry Tasmania and the Forest Practices Board.
Author of a 1991 report on forest practices on private property,
he also sat on a sub-committee for the Forest Industry Review
Council in 1992 and 1993.
He did FPB courses in zoology, botany, archeology and timber reserves.
He audited forest practices between 1999 and 2002.
Mr Manning was forest practices officer for the FPB from 1990
to 1999 and had power to lay complaints under the Forest Practices
Act.
The nightmare began when he alleged Forestry Tasmania had breached
the Threatened Species Protection Act, the Forest Practices Act
and the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act.
Mr Manning told the inquiry his allegations were overridden by
the FPB and a district forester, without inspecting the site where
the breaches were alleged.
"I had never before issued notices against Forestry Tasmania
prior to this action," Mr Manning said. "Within two
weeks, the chief forest practices officer had demanded my notice
books withdrawn. My authority to lay complaints under the Forest
Practices Act was withdrawn as well."
Mr Manning said the person stripping him of his power was FPB
chairman, Ken Fulton. Mr Fulton is an executive director of Forestry
Tasmania.
Despite reporting "nearly 100 separate serious alleged breaches
from my auditing between 1999 and 2002", Mr Manning said
Forestry Tasmania had never been prosecuted.
In 2000-2001 a statewide audit by Mr Manning found more than 80
breaches.
He took his allegations and documentation to then attorney-general
Peter Patmore.
Mr Patmore passed them to Department of Infrastructure, Energy
and Resources secretary, Mark Addis. Mr Addis is a former chief
executive of the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania.
Mr Manning said the only action taken by Mr Addis was "to
remove me from my role".
Mr Manning also took his allegations to the State Ombudsman. Then
the Ombudsman required he complain in writing.
"As a public servant, I was not protected and I couldn't
do that," Mr Manning said.
Whether the allegations were true or false, Mr Manning was in
a maze.
He stepped out of the maze into the public eye when he spoke to
the Senate inquiry, not something he was happy about.
"It is really sad because the people in the industry were
the people I had allegiance to," Mr Manning said.
He had started in forestry fresh out of school in 1970. It was
instilled in him that the forest was "a very special place"
and the industry was sustainable.
"This was the type of initial impression I had, and I still
have," he said.
"The culture of the forest industry and the regulatory bodies
who are supposed to govern it is one of intimidation, deception
and lack of transparency. It's one which will vilify and exclude
those who attempt to bring it to account.
"There are many foresters who would like to do the right
thing but are afraid to do anything."
Dr Obendorf said: "If this is the smoking gun, as some think,
it will depend on whether the other people in Forestry with similar
concerns come forward."
Lobbyist Isla McGregor said lack of whistleblower laws to protect
Mr Manning left him in the cold.
"Bill Manning is experiencing what all whistleblowers do,
he's being shunted, shafted, victimised and isolated," Ms
McGregor said.
"This can be the death knell for careers."
Whistleblower legislation passed both houses of Parliament before
the last state election but has not been proclaimed. It needs
the signature of the Tasmanian governor.
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