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Simon Overland caught in a lie as diaries turn up
Diaries belonging to the former commissioner of Victoria Police have turned up despite him alleging before a royal commission that he did not keep any.
Naomi Neilson
For five days, Simon Overland persistently told counsels of the Royal Commission into Police Informants (RCMPI) that he never kept a diary or recorded notes during his time as assistant commissioner of Victoria Police, and never in regard to Nicola Gobbo.
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On why he never kept any notes, Mr Overland told counsel: “I think at that time a lot of these discussions would have happened at the briefings and I expressed my views on a number of occasions, I didn’t reduce them to writing.
“My expectation was my views would be noted and followed where appropriate,” he said.
However, three diaries have now turned up. Mr Overland’s former chief of staff notified the commission that he remembered packing up the diaries after his boss resigned in 2011. Police from Taskforce Landow searched through a Laverton archive facility and found diaries from 2003, 2004 and 2007 in an unmarked box.
This discovery means Mr Overland will be back in the witness box to address what the contents of the diaries mean – and why these were not disclosed earlier.
It comes after the commission ended on a sour note for Mr Overland, with barrister for Paul Dale Geoffrey Steward alleging “we are basically here for your ego” and “self-serving secrecy”.
Former colleagues who have also appeared before the commission also alleged they never kept a diary. They include current chief commissioner Graham Ashton, former chief commissioner Christine Nixon and assistant commissioner Luke Cornelius.
The RCMPI will resume again on 21 January. Follow the live blog here and check out our past coverage here.
