Operation Jungle
Reviewed By Ian Banks September 23, 2021
Author John Shobbrook
Distributor: UQP
ISBN: 9780702263248
Publisher: University of Queensland Press (UQP)
Release Date: August 2021
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Although Operation Jungle may well read like a bit of fantasy it is the absolute truth; a truth that is without precedent in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics about a drug bust in the far reaches of far North Queensland that was to destroy John Shobbrook’s career but also see the end of what was one of the more corrupt departments in Queensland law enforcement agencies.
John Shobbook has told his story in a very matter of fact style, no frills, just the facts which more than anything else, highlights a time where the corruption he encountered had been part and parcel of the Law enforcement agencies for many years.
His career was on an upward trajectory when he and his partner went to Sydney as a result of some serious investigation into the importation around 2 kg of heroin. They had come to arrest John Edward Milligan, a known drug trafficker. The arrest went very smoothly which surprised them both and when was being charged at Customs House for his involvement in the illegal importation of heroin in 1977, he was once again very relaxed about the charges.
It was only when bail was going to be opposed, Milligan said he knew all about Shobbrook’s silly little Operation Jungle which was not surprising, but the fact he knew the name of the operation was! From that point on, Shobbrook’s glistening career was on the rocks, as the further he dug into the case the more corruption he uncovered the more fragile his position became.
He eventually left the job he loved, an honest and brave man made to feel like a pariah, a man of no use and not wanted within the ranks of what was to become the Australian Federal Police.
His story is astonishing but sadly all to true, his ethical way of undertaking his investigations was the instrument of his downfall, as he had no idea how deep went the corruption, how intent on covering up the layers of deceit where those with the most invested.
His story is incredible even all these years later, when many incidents of corruption at the highest levels have come to public light. Since then the Centre for Public integrity was been established in 2019 to conduct research into critical integrity reform in order to change attitudes and rebuild public trust in onto not just our democracy, but our Laws and institutions.
It may have been a long time coming since John Shobbrook bore the brunt of systemic corruption, but his case it has served to build the foundations of something better as Operation Jungle would have to be considered as a textbook case on what not to do, but highlights also the endemic levels of corruption that were allowed to spread far and wide, through all levels of society.
Operation Jungle is a segment of Australian history that has deserved to be presented in the light of a new day and is extremely important for the understanding of political modern Australia and many other issues only now being discussed publicly, and off which, continues in the recorded history of Australia for posterity.