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Welcome To The Justice Project
Although it was without a name at the time, The Justice Project had its beginnings in May of 1992.
The University of Queensland's Journalism School (of which I was Head) was about to produce the first edition of what became a most important newspaper -- The Weekend Independent.
For this edition we attempted, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to produce a story about the new Queensland government, for spurious and obviously unsustainable reasons, closing down an investigation into what was going on in a local youth detention centre, and shredding all the evidence that investigation had gathered.
We may not have had a story for our first edition but as the years went by we returned to this story and for at least seven years now have peeled away the deceit, duplicity and cover-up associated with the closing down of the Heiner Inquiry and the shredding of all the material it had gathered -- "Shreddergate" we called it , and the word has now entered the Australian lexicon.
Because we (and a tireless citizen, Kevin Lindeberg) have continued to pursue the story, we now know a great deal more about what was going on in the youth detention centre concerned, but we also know much more about the operations of government, politicians, bureaucrats, so-called watchdog agencies, professional bodies and even academics.
We know much more about their capacity to cover up, to look after their mates, and to look the other way.
We also know that a good deal of what was shredded was about the abuse of children in the care, control and custody of the State. This abuse involved torture, rape, pack rape, improper relationships between staff and residents, and actions on the part of some which even placed the very lives of the residents at risk.
Most of what has been discovered has been revealed with minimal assistance (and often outright opposition and hostility) from the local media. But this response does not deter us. The wonderful thing about working with young people is their sense of outrage at what has happened in this case. And so the efforts of all those who have worked on this story over the years are acknowledged with gratitude. But we have not yet reached the end of this story, and much more remains to be done.
What has been done is set out on the site.
Stories we have written on this matter are now on the reading lists of an unknown number of tertiary courses into archives practice, records management and journalism in various parts of the world. What we have discovered has been drawn on by academics and others for the production of scholarly articles and media stories. And we are grateful that our work has been recognised in this way.
What we have done, and what we continue to do, is in the best traditions of both journalism and the academy -- that is, the search for truth. The sentiments that guide us are expressed below.
And so the search goes on.
In addition, we reproduce here the shocking stories we wrote about Neerkol (stories that went round the world), and Nazareth House, and Silky Oaks, and other institutions in which children suffered unspeakable torment and terror and abuse. Hopefully gathering all this material together in one site may help ensure nothing of the kind ever happens again.
We trust that through the links associated with this site, readers will be able navigate their way through the stories and understand the importance of what we have done.
Bruce Grundy
19.07.2003.
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"GREAT IS TRUTH AND MIGHTY ABOVE ALL THINGS"
Esdras
(Inscription on Law School Building, The University of Queensland) |
"THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE"
St John
(Inscription over entrance, Kings College, University of Queensland) |
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"ALL THAT IS NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL
IS THAT GOOD MEN [AND WOMEN] DO NOTHING"
Original attributed to Edmund Burke (1729-1797) |
Bruce Grundy
Email:b.grundy@uq.edu.au Phone: +61 7 3365-2060
Fax: +61 7 3365-1377
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Journalist in Residence, The University of Queensland
Former Associate Professor and Foundation Head, Department of Journalism, The University of Queensland (including 20 years tertiary teaching experience). Former Faculty of Arts Sub-Dean and Academic Adviser and member of the Academic Board and the Social Sciences Group Council, The University of Queensland. Forty years' experience in journalism and the media including: reporter, producer, anchor (ABC Radio), reporter, producer, anchor, associate producer and executive producer (ABC Television Current Affairs and Radio Australia); editor and editor-in-chief The Weekend Independent newspaper; publisher and writer Bruce Grundy's Inside Queensland). Former judge Graham Perkin National Journalist of the Year Award, Gold Coast Media Awards and North Queensland Media Awards. Former President Journalism Education Association. Contributor and commentator Australian Journalism Review, Australian Studies in Journalism, ABC Radio. Presented in-service editorial training programs for journalists in one of Australia’s major media groups and researches and writes investigative stories for publication. Author of So You Want To Be A Journalist? (Cambridge University Press, 2007). |
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