There’s no other explanation for it. Cossack Sofronoff must have been smitten with The Australian’s community values monitor, Frau Albrechtsen from Planet Janet.
How else do you fathom hours and hours of phone calls, text messages and other reinforcing billet-doux with the sabre-toothed hack?
Even before the Cossack commenced his inquiry into the prosecution of accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann, the Planet was on the warpath against #MeTooism, Brittany Higgins, DPP Shane Drumgold, and “victim-centric” sympathies in sexual assault cases.
Sofronoff plugged into that with the columnist during his inquiry and to that extent they reinforced each other’s predisposition. Certainly, the final report of the Board of Inquiry contained everything for which Albrechtsen had campaigned.
According to reports of the preliminary round of Drumgold’s application for judicial review of Sofronoff’s findings, the Cossack had 65 phone calls with journalists between February 9 and July 31, 2023.
That’s nearly 10 hours of calls, of which there were 55 with The Australian – over a period of seven-and-a-half hours – mainly with Albrechtsen and some with her side kick Stephen Rice.
During the inquiry itself, Sofronoff had 10 calls with The Australian, eight of them with The Planet.
What influence was Albrechtsen covertly having on Sofronoff’s thinking and how was he informing her reporting? What sensitive information was Sofronoff peddling? What stories in the broadsheet came directly from the man conducting the inquiry?
By contrast, the Cossack was on the blower for a bit over one-and-a-half hours with other journalists, most of that time with the ABC’s Canberra based reporter Elizabeth Byrne.
It’s simply unheard of to give such generous accommodation to select reptiles of the media by someone conducting an official investigation, commission of inquiry or other government appointed review.
Even more audacious was the decision by the Cossack to give embargoed copies of his report to Albrechtsen and Byrne. His explanation was that this would better inform the reporting of his findings.
Apparently, this thoughtful early-release scheme didn’t apply to other mainstream media outlets with interest in the review: Guardian Australia, The Financial Review, The Canberra Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the Macquarie Radio Network, numerous TV networks and news websites.
Only The Australian and the ABC benefited from the Cossack’s kindly arrangement, and in the case of Albrechtsen the prior release was to a bloviator already in the groove.
Of course, The Australian ratted on Sofronoff by breaking the embargo.
All of this sub rosa activity was conducted behind Drumgold’s back and was prejudicial to him.
Further submissions to the judicial review are to be filed early next week arguing for admissibility of the phone records and other communications.
Even though Sofronoff found that the decision to prosecute Lehrmann for rape was justified, Bruce is hoping that if he sues the ACT government, he would be able to get a house.
“I have instructed my lawyers to prepare a statement of claim against the state [sic]. I’ve got lawyers that need to be paid, people who have supported me, like my mum and uncle, who need to be supported.
I’m not interested in becoming a millionaire, but I do want to perhaps get on with my life and maybe buy a house.”
Whether Sofronoff’s bias has been apprehended and Bruce gets his house waits for another day.