The Prime Minister
The Hon John Howard MP
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

June 25, 2005

Sir,

I refer to your frequent advocacy on behalf of justice & the rule of law & the strength & importance of Australia’s relationship with the United States.

Under the circumstances, I know you would be concerned to learn of an incident in Townsville last year (Townsville Bulletin: US Marines Walk Free), where

·                    an Australian citizen, Mr Heath Twomey, was allegedly assaulted by two US servicemen & stabbed in the neck with a knife

·                    the US servicemen, Lance Corporal Craig Meeks & Staff Sergeant Beryl Wilson Jnr, were subsequently charged with attempted murder by Townsville Police

·                    the US servicemen, having been granted bail, failed to appear in Court to answer the charges, with the Court being advised by defence solicitors that ‘they were in Japan’

·                    the cases were subsequently assigned to the US military, at their request, under the terms of a military agreement between Australia & the US

·                    no charges were pursued against Lance Corporal Meeks

·                    Sergeant Wilson was acquitted at the end of a US military trial, during which the evidence of Mr Twomey & other witnesses was not sought

·                    both US servicemen remain on active duty & have not been reprimanded or disciplined in any way

Could you please explain how the interests of justice & the rule of law can be served, where an agreement between Australia & the US permits US servicemen charged with serious criminal offences in Australia to escape the consequences of their actions?

Your parliamentary colleague, Mr Peter Lindsay, the Liberal Member for Herbert (QLD), has been quoted as saying that the outcome of this matter was ‘odd’ but went on to dismiss the matter by stating that ‘the people who know the facts and the circumstances have made that decision’.

Mr Lindsay would not appear to be possessed of the same burning passion for justice & the rule of law as you are. Otherwise it may have occurred to him to question how it is that Sergeant Wilson came to be found not guilty by a closed US military court, when that court heard no evidence from Mr Twomey or other witnesses?

Could you please explain how Australian citizens can have any confidence that the interests of justice & the rule of law are to be respected & taken seriously, even in their own country, when US citizens can commit serious crimes in Australia & escape the jurisdiction of our criminal justice system, only to be exonerated by a military hearing which does not hear the available evidence?

Could you please explain how Australian citizens can have any confidence in your repeated public utterances on the importance of justice & the rule of law, whilst your government is prepared to make Australia party to an agreement with the US, that produces outcomes that clearly fail to serve the interests of justice & make a mockery of the rule of law?

Could you please confirm that your government will take the necessary steps to ensure that US servicemen charged with criminal offences under the laws of our country will, in future, be tried in our Courts under the terms of our criminal justice system, thereby reassuring the Australian people that your government’s professed respect for justice & the rule of law is genuine & not discretionary when it comes to citizens of the US breaking the laws of our country?

This final request is particularly relevant, given that another two US servicemen from the USS Boxer are currently being held by Australian authorities, having been charged over the importation of $1 million worth of amphetamines.

Given the outcome of the Twomey case, I’m sure you’d agree that the Australian people would have absolutely no reason to have confidence in your reassurances as to the importance of justice & the rule of law being upheld in our country, if the US servicemen concerned in this latest incident were transferred to the jurisdiction of the US military.

I await your early reassurances on these matters.