Retired Army aviator Bill Mellor to steer Queensland's bikie crackdown despite lack of law enforcement experience

Updated

A retired Army aviator has quietly been handed control of Queensland's anti-bikie strategy despite having no direct experience of civilian law enforcement or Australian organised crime.

Brigadier Bill Mellor is a former Army colleague of state Premier Campbell Newman, and his new job includes setting strategy and coordinating anti-bikie efforts across Government.

He was given the job in mid-October, but the appointment only came to light after transcripts of Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee (PCMC) hearings were tabled in Parliament last month.

In a barely-noticed section of one of them, Mr Newman's chief media adviser Lee Anderson referred to a conversation he had with Brigadier Mellor regarding bikies and illegal drugs.

Mr Anderson described the brigadier as "implementing a response to [motorcycle gangs] across government".

The ABC first made enquiries about Brigadier Mellor's role on Monday but did not receive a response until late last night.

Brigadier Mellor is sole director of a security consultancy, Due Vigilance Pty Ltd, which he owns with a Joanne Mellor.

The Brisbane-based man also co-owns and co-directs the Australian arm of IPS Securex, a Singapore company that supplies security products including high-tech riot equipment, scanners, anti-graffiti technology and torchlight-mounted cameras.

IPS Securex was caught up this year in a procurement scandal in Singapore.

A senior civil servant was jailed after being caught giving preferential treatment to a different company in return for sexual favours.

The court heard that IPS Securex may have indirectly benefited because of the information leaked.

A spokesman for Mr Newman said Brigadier Mellor had been employed directly and not through either of his companies, and the Queensland Government had no commercial relationship with the two organisations.

Brigadier Mellor was previously employed by the Liberal National Party Government to help with flood recovery.

Mellor responsible for strategy to 'eliminate criminal motorcycle gangs'

A spokesman for Mr Newman said the flood recovery appointment had ended and Brigadier Mellor was re-employed in the new 12-month role on October 14.

The spokesman said Brigadier Mellor had been put in charge of a "strategic monitoring team" consisting of directors-general and senior officers.

His role will involve responsibility for "a whole of government strategic framework for the the elimination of criminal motorcycle gangs from Queensland".

It will include setting milestones, coordinating enforcement and other government agencies and monitoring expenditure.

The spokesman said Brigadier Mellor's "background as a senior military officer with operational experience, extensive planning and coordination skills …[and] ability to manage major projects" qualified him for the job.

Brigadier Mellor is also in charge of a review of security of Government buildings.

The spokesman did not answer questions about remuneration, and Brigadier Mellor did not return calls.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie says Brigadier Mellor brings a wealth of experience, particularly from his recent role in flood recovery operations.

"It doesn't matter where he came from or what he did - he's the right person for the job," he said.

The PCMC transcript mentioning Brigadier Mellor’s role was released in controversial circumstances by the committee's then-chair, independent state MP Liz Cunningham.

She said at the time she wanted "the truth" to come out about the Government’s dealings with Crime and Misconduct Commission chairman Ken Levy.

Dr Levy wrote a comment article for The Courier-Mail in October supporting the Government's anti-association laws and initially claimed he done so entirely on his own initiative.

He later corrected the record twice, admitting in the PCMC hearings he had received advice from Mr Anderson, Mr Newman's adviser.

Mr Newman then reappointed Dr Levy for a further term and forced the resignations of the entire PCMC, accusing the Labor members and its chair of bias.

Federal MP Clive Palmer has likened the Government to the Gestapo over its appointment of Brigadier Mellor, saying civilian governments should not have military ties.

"I think it's tantamount to a Gestapo - changing legislation, employing ex-army people to run judicial functions," he said.

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Topics: states-and-territories, government-and-politics, federal---state-issues, defence-and-national-security, qld, australia, brisbane-4000

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