MEDIA RELEASE - April 14, 2016
The Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP has welcomed today’s statement from the Police Integrity Commission announcing Operation Colchester, which will investigate the matters referred to them in relation to reports that serving members of the NSW Police Force engaged in online racist and sexist harassment of Ms Leong as a Member of Parliament.
“After being presented with evidence that suggested that several employees of the NSW Police Force had posted offensive racist and sexist comments about me on facebook, we referred the matter to the Police Integrity Commission.
“We welcome the commitment from the Police Integrity Commission to investigate whether there has been any police misconduct. This is a very serious matter and we are pleased to see it is being responded to accordingly.
“Our office will work with the Police Integrity Commission and assist with its investigations as required.
“While the investigation is being undertaken, we will not be commenting further on this matter specifically. However, we will continue our work representing the people of the electorate of Newtown and advancing the Greens’ vision for a more just, more sustainable and more equitable society. That includes our ongoing work to see a repeal of the ineffective NSW drug dog detection program in NSW.
“I would like to thank the many members of the community who have expressed their personal support to us since these issues have been exposed. The outpouring of concern, care and commitment to seeing an end to racism and sexism in our community has been truly heartening in the face of such vile online abuse.”
