THE state MP who chaired a parliamentary inquiry into sexual abuse in the 1990s says the Catholic Church was not ''fair dinkum'' then and nor is it now about the state inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious institutions.Lower house Speaker Ken Smith said yesterday that he had no confidence in Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart or his predecessor, Cardinal George Pell, ''because they knew about these things and were not prepared to do anything''.
At a seminar in the city to help victims prepare submissions to the inquiry, the Liberal member for Bass told The Age: ''I dealt with Gerry Cudmore [then the Melbourne vicar-general] and he was trying to cover his arse. I don't think he was fair dinkum.''
So was the church fair dinkum today? ''No. I think [Archbishop Hart] is just trying to keep things smooth, and that's sad.''
Mr Smith said the parliamentary inquiry, widely criticised as inferior to an independent judicial inquiry, was the right way to go, but there was no way it could report by the due date of April 30 next year.
''They are going to need to listen to what people say, and not deviate away. Their stories are going to be quite confrontational but Georgie [committee chairwoman Georgie Crozier] was a nurse who worked with sexual assault victims, and she will have an understanding.''
Mr Smith chaired the crime prevention committee's inquiry into sexual offences against children and adults, which reported in May 1995. ''We made 136 recommendations. Our report wasn't well received by the Kennett government,'' he said, but over the years many recommendations had been adopted.
Detective Inspector Paul Binyon, head of the Victoria Police sexual crimes squad, said the police would follow the inquiry closely, including making their own submission.
''If issues of immediate concern come out of the inquiry, Victoria Police would retain the right to act if something needs immediate investigation.''
He said whether moving offenders from parish to parish constituted perverting the course of justice was a question the inquiry would have to consider, and the police would look for recommendations.
A former aide to a cardinal in Philadelphia last month became the first priest convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision, but Detective Inspector Binyon said that was not a precedent for Australian courts.
The seminar - attended by victims, welfare experts, therapists, lawyers, police and priests - was the first of many around the state organised by a sexual assault victims' advocacy service, run by former sexual crimes squad chief Glenn Davies and veteran victims advocate Helen Last.
The seminars advise victims on how to prepare submissions to the government inquiry, which close on August 31. There were two seminars yesterday, the second attended by dozens of priests and rabbis.
Mr Davies has prepared detailed submission guidelines to guide victims through what many said they would find a traumatic experience in making a submission or appearing before the committee.