It's time for - The Police Association Victoria

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PROfILE Geoff Wilkinson 40 years in journalism A lifetime of achievement ABOVE: Geoff Wilkinson with his father, Bob and sons Dean (right) and Lee (left). And still grabbing the front page For 40 years Geoff Wilkinson has been at the forefront of crime reporting in this state. His only break was for nine years when he worked for Chief Commissioner Mick Miller as his media director. Mr Miller dubbed Geoff the ‘scruffy scribe’. The Chief thought so much of the man 14 Protect Represent Support. www.tpav.org.au and the position that he presented Geoff with an officer’s blue ‘Freddy’. "This caused a bit of confusion in the ranks - this scruffy bloke getting around with a blue Freddy," recalls Geoff with a laugh after receiving the prestigious lifetime achievement award at the Melbourne Press Club’s Quill Awards earlier last month. In 1981 when Chief Commissioner Mick Miller decided he needed assistance with media, Geoff Wilkinson, then deputy chief of staff at the Herald Sun was one of 35 applicants for the job. Mr Miller was impressed and so was Geoff. "It was a big decision to leave and Mick Miller was a big part of that decision. He was and
is inspirational. I still talk to him regularly. He’s still razor sharp." Police at the time saw the value and importance of working the media to benefit the investigation. In cases including the Russell Street bombing and Turkish consulate bombing Geoff was "virtually a defacto member of the investigation". The level of co-operation during the Russell Street bombing investigation has never been repeated. "Everyone was happy with what they got." And there was the Geelong Water Board extortion bid when a media blackout was negotiated by Chief Commissioner Miller and his media director. "The media knew what was going on and were briefed every day. It held. I can’t imagine that happening today." Awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1985, Geoff travelled extensively looking at overseas police forces. It was during this trip that Geoff discovered Crime Stoppers and was integral in the introduction of the initiative into Victoria. Twenty-three years later, Geoff is still on the Crime Stoppers board and only recently resigned from the Blue Ribbon Day Council. Geoff has been held in the highest regard by police and community leaders for decades. During his time as the Chief Commissioner’s Media Director, Geoff developed a level of respect and trust that has never been surpassed. He worked with Mick Miller until his retirement and then stayed on for another 12 months’with Chief Commissioner Kel Glare, before leaving to take up a job with A Current Affair in 1989. All of this makes Geoff’s relationship with the current Force Command even more unbelievable. Checks of Geoff’s phone records have been made to establish who he is talking to. Geoff is obviously angered and saddened by the situation that came to a head when he published a story on bikie gangs moving in to Melbourne. "Sadly, my relationship with recent Chief Commissioners has not been quite as positive as it was in the days of Reg Jackson and Mick Miller. These days they’re more inclined to run checks on my phone in a vain attempt to find out where a story’s come from. It’s appalling that they checked my 89-year-old father’s phone." So how did Geoff find out that he was being checked? "A copper who had the misfortune of talking to me when the story that upset them so much appeared contacted me. The copper had been interviewed and asked to explain their relationship with me. "Why that story would generate such a reaction is a mystery to me. The bikie gangs wear their identity on their backs. People know they are here. Why they would bother to waste time and resources to find, unsuccessfully, where it came from, is a joke. It is such a negative, reactive attitude. ABOVE: John Silvester with Geoff Wilkinson after announcing his lifetime achievement award. "I should be an ally of the Force and the media unit − I understand the pros and cons of where they are coming from and how they can have a mutually beneficial relationship with the media. I can’t tell you the last time I was offered a story through official police sources." At the Press Club’s Quill awards, when Geoff Wilkinson was honoured with his lifetime achievement award he had no idea it was coming. When his old mate John ‘Sly of the Underworld’ Silvester began speaking about crime reporters over the years he felt John was laboring the point with the number of stories that featured him. He still wasn’t sure what was happening when his wife, Dorothy, suggested he should put his jacket back on. Geoff had arrived at the award presentation dinner oblivious to the fact that his father, Bob, and sons Dean and Lee were there − all wanting to be a part of his big night. "Every man and his dog knew − except me. It was the best orchestrated sting of all time," says Geoff. "When I got to the stage I was in shock." Mick Miller recorded a video tribute to the ‘scruffy scribe’. He said the thing that sold him on Geoff over 34 other applicants was his response to an "integrity test" question. Mr Miller wanted to know how his media director would portray the Chief Commissioner in a good light at all times and if he could pull stories if they didn’t suit the chief or the police force. "I was surprised at the responses I got from some of those on the panel. When it came to Geoffrey his response was quite emphatic. He said, ‘at that point, Mr Commissioner, you and I would have reached the parting of the ways’. "There were times when we disagreed, but we disagreed like gentleman. He could be depended upon to give advice in the right measure and at the right time," Mr Miller said. Over all the years two simple rules have governed Geoff Wilkinson’s professional life − always be right and assume nothing. Many of Victoria’s leading crime reporters learnt those rules under Geoff’s tutelage when he was the chief crime reporter, working out of a cramped office in the old Russell Street police station. Congratulations Geoff − keep those front page stories coming. The Police Association Victoria Journal May 2011 15
Page 1 and 2: Journal THE POLICE ASSOCIATION VICT
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