It seems once again the Australian’s Ean Higgins thinks he is on a winner.

That’s right, the man who convinced the gullible that Kathy Jackson was a legendary whistleblower and hero of the working class has found himself another whistleblower of an apparently similar moral standing.

Charlie Wilson being a greyhound trainer, clearly comes from an industry that has a far from enviable reputation, and he has shown himself to be of such impeccable moral standing and integrity that he has inside knowledge of the illegal doping industry. He is claiming to be a whistleblower for the not exactly the most noble of reasons, that being revenge, and he has proven to be a man of such great intelligence having being ripped off to the tune of $100K buying two “dud” dogs.

I mean who wouldn’t trust this guy?

Unfortunately some have.

Charlie Wilson – Desperate for revenge
Image – The Australian

The first of those would appear to be Lyn White of Animals Australia. As the emails Wilson has leaked online and to the Australian show the two had worked closely together on an investigation into the illegal doping of greyhounds. That information was taken to Greyhound Racing Victoria and as a result a property was raided by Greyhound Racing Victoria and the investigation is ongoing.

So how unfortunate was this for all concerned?

Well for Animals Australia it doesn’t seem that unfortunate, they uncovered what appears to be a large doping ring as a result. For Greyhound Racing Victoria it worked out well as it uncovered illegal activity that they are now in the process of addressing. For the greyhounds it worked out the best of all though as it meant they were not getting loaded up with illegal substances against their will.

However for Charlie Wilson it did not work out so well. Most would be content, self-satisfied and proud that they had done something good with themselves and righted a huge wrong.

Not Charlie.

There’s no glory in that apparently. Charlie it seemed figured he was going to be all over TV and the media and be able to milk it for all he’s worth.

“They said I was going to be the whistleblower in the program and then they gave the information away”

Charlie seemingly made the same mistake that so many others make in foolishly believing that these animal advocate orgainsations care more for publicity than they do about achieving actual animal welfare outcomes.

Diddums.

So now Charlie had someone else to wreak revenge upon, and unfortunately he appears to have scraped the paint on one person’s reputation, that being Dion Russell.

Dion has his own business and has done work for Meat and Livestock Australia. One of the key elements of his work has been in finding and implementing ways to improve animal welfare, something Dion sees as crucial in both a moral and business sense. Anyone surprised that someone working with Meat and Livestock Australia to improve industry animal welfare conditions would be in regular contact with the largest animal advocate organisation I would suggest may have been drinking the Barnaby Joyce Kool-Aid.

Linked below is Dion Russell’s letter in response to the article.

Dion Russell Response Letter

For Dion who understandably has concerns for his families safety due to Wilson’s alleged criminal links, I’d say this. “Rest easy, anyone who goes to Animals Australia to obtain revenge after being ripped off 100 grand clearly has a bark worse than their bite.”

Perhaps the most unfortunate of those trusting Wilson would appear to be the reporters and editorial team at the Australian given this was not the first time they have aired Wilson’s dirty laundry.

It would seem the temptation of an opportunity to take some skin off one of those lefty hippy tree hugging organisations like Animals Australia was far too great for those over at Team Australian.

The damage this has done to Animals Australia has been far from irreparable.

Lyn White – Outed as an animal-lover
Image – Coalition Against Duck Shooting

What this all this has exposed is that Animals Australia have active investigations into illegal doping in the greyhound industry and into the treatment of Australian cattle in the live export industry. Wow, who would’ve thought…?

But it gets worse, Animals Australia have allegedly often relied on industry insiders and whistleblowers. Golly gosh, imagine…

It’s not just these shocking revelations however, this also highlights what Wilson has referred to as the “Corruption” of Animals Australia in working with industry groups to improve animal welfare outcomes. I’ll bet they are reeling over this…

In regards to the allegations of trespass to install hidden cameras to secure evidence, I’m sure Animals Australia has many informants who are not employees and obtain their evidence in a variety of manners and this only serves to highlight the lengths one must go to and the risks one must undertake to highlight illegal industry practices that local councils are often complicit about and police are more often than not loathe to investigate.

This is not publicly donated funds being misused nor is it taxpayer dollars being splurged on helicopter rides and attending the weddings of friends that we see often from the side politics the Australian holds in such high esteem. This is not large scale money laundering and funnelling illegal political donations aka Parakeelia, a scandal the Australian seemed content to largely ignore.

Nope this is just an organisation attempting to make life a little more comfortable, and death a little more humane for animals before they end up on our plates.

Lyn White had a moral duty and obligation to follow up Charlie Wilsons claims given they involved widespread illegality and large-scale abuse of animals. In contrast the evidence Wilson has provided the Australian is indicative of an animal welfare charity group doing its job.

Crime of the century I’m sure.