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Rape News Story 3 Inquiry Knew of Rape By Bruce Grundy (4 November 2001) The former magistrate who conducted the aborted 1989 inquiry into the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre was aware of an incident in which a 14-year-old Aboriginal girl being held in the centre was gang raped, a former member of the centre's staff has claimed. Allegations that the management at the centre had known of the rape and that it had been covered up for 12 years, were raised in a story published in The Courier-Mail last Saturday. A former youth worker at the centre told The Courier-Mail yesterday he had been interviewed by the person conducting the 1989 inquiry, Mr Noel Heiner, and had been specifically asked about the rape. He said the interview "was about [the manager of the centre] bascially" but the rape "was one of the incidents that came out", the former youth worker said. When asked if he had volunteered information about the rape or had been questioned about it, the man said: "He [Mr Heiner] asked … he knew about it already." The man said everyone in the centre knew about the rape. "We all knew … everybody knew," he said. The Heiner Inquiry into the John Oxley Youth Centre was established in October 1989 by the-then National Party government. It was abruptly shut down by the Goss Labor government when it came to power in December 1989. Subsequently the Goss Cabinet approved all evidence gathered by Mr Heiner be examined by the state archivist who in turn approved its destruction. A former minister in the Goss Cabinet, Pat Comben, said on television in 1999 that "in broad terms" the Cabinet had been aware that the shredded documents had contained information about child abuse. Next day Mr Comben said his comments had been taken out of context. When contacted yesterday about the claim that he had been aware of the pack rape allegation, Mr Heiner declined to comment. A move by Families Minister Judy Spence to refer the pack rape cover up allegations to the Criminal Justice Commission for investigation was strenuously rejected yesterday by a member of the 1995 Senate Select Committee into Unresolved Whistleblower Cases in Queensland which examined the shredding of the Heiner documents. Former Democrat Senator John Woodley said it would be inappropriate for the CJC to accept a reference to investigate the matter because at the time of the Senate Inquiry the CJC "clearly knew about cases of child abuse, and this was part of the material which was not disclosed to the Senate. "Therefore, one has to wonder why, when they knew about child abuse, they did not disclose it at the time. "That was an incredibly serious omission, and one can't have confidence that they will deal with it properly if it is referred to them again, " Senator Woodley said. According to former members of staff and the girl concerned, the gang rape took place when she was taken on a supervised excursion with a group of male inmates to a remote location in the bush. 2627 page visits Content Management Software 2010