Buswell bin tip ‘never followed up’

Former treasurer Troy Buswell fronts the media for first time since crashing his ministerial car in February. Source: News Corp Australia

A SECURITY guard reported seeing Troy Buswell empty a bin full of bottles in the basement of a government building the morning he crashed his car,a parliamentary committee report has revealed.

Police were made aware of the sighting, but it did not appear it was followed up, the inquiry found.

The committee that examined the police investigation into Mr Buswell's late-night car crashes has concluded the response was inadequate.

Mr Buswell quit cabinet following revelations he had a mental breakdown after crashing into parked cars, a pole and the front gate of his Subiaco home while returning from a wedding in the early hours of February 23.

The damaged front of Troy Buswell's ministerial car, which was towed away for further police examination. Picture: Nine News

Before Mr Buswell returned to parliament as a backbencher last month, he told reporters he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression, but refused to answer whether he was drunk when the crashes occurred.

The inquiry also revealed the bizarre sighting of Mr Buswell by a security guard at Dumas House – where the then-treasurer worked – in the early hours of February 23.

The committee said it was appropriate that Department of Premier and Cabinet director general Peter Conran had "in a timely fashion" made police aware of the sighting.

"It does, however, appear that this was never followed up by police," the committee said in its report.

"Given ongoing questions about where Mr Buswell went immediately after the wedding reception and where he parked his car, this lack of follow-up is perplexing."

The report says police ordered CCTV footage from Dumas House parking areas, including the garaged area, between 10pm on February 22 and 2am on February 23.

Premier Colin Barnett told Parliament today CCTV was handed over to the police but there was no vision of the Vasse MP emptying anything into a bin.

The opposition-instigated inquiry examined matters including how police investigated the crashes on the night, the subsequent conduct of the investigation and collection of evidence, the decision to prosecute and the charges laid.

Mr Buswell was fined $3100 and disqualified from driving for one year after he admitted to 11 traffic offences committed during the ill-fated journey, but did not face drink-driving charges because he was not breathalysed on the night.

Police went to Mr Buswell's home following a tip off from a member of the public who reported seeing a man who resembled the treasurer barely able to stand as he struggled to get into the property.

But when they arrived, the lights were off, the gate was closed and no-one was around.

The traffic offence charges including failing to stop after an accident were only laid after the scandal was exposed in the media.

"The Committee has come to the conclusion that there was a systemic failure at a number of levels on the evening," the report on the inquiry read.

"There was an inadequate police response; Dignitary Protection were unaware of the then state Treasurer's car registration or home address; police subsequently let any investigation lapse and left it to the media to join the dots."

The committee said police did not make the connection between the report of erratic driving outside Mr Buswell's home and the smashed cars parked in nearby streets.

"No follow-up occurred between the taking of these initial reports and media reports which surfaced some weeks later," the committee said.

"Only at that time, when police came under public scrutiny, did they spring into action.

"By that time, however, long after the event, any deficiencies in the original investigation could not readily be corrected."

The committee said the investigation was then conducted under the false assumption that no charges could be laid in the absence of a breathalyser reading.

But traffic police didn't cop the blame for not knowing the house they visited was Mr Buswell's residence and that he was behind the wheel of the erratically driven Holden Caprice because it was up to the government's dignitary protection unit to maintain and update adequate records on such matters.

And because they initially did not know they were looking into the conduct of a minister, police could not be accused of treating the incident more leniently.

"The police were let down by an unsophisticated communications system which did not reveal connections between events which were clearly linked," the committee concluded.

"The police investigation was then hampered by the refusal of the Member for Vasse to be interviewed."

The committee said one of the most concerning findings of the inquiry was that drink drivers had been sent the message they could evade a conviction if they laid low.

WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan has rejected the committee's finding of a systemic failure on the night of the incident.

"The police did what they did based on the information they had on the night," he said.

Mr O'Callaghan also noted dissent in the committee after deputy chairman, Liberal MP Ian Britza, said he tendered the "minority report" with great reluctance.

Premier Colin Barnett said it was time to let Mr Buswell get on with recovering from bipolar disorder and depression.

But Labor leader Mark McGowan said questions remained about revelations about the security guard's sighting of Mr Buswell at Dumas House.

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