The Government is twiddling it's thumbs, while waiting for the Catholic Church to carry out an internal investigation.
''I would urge the Catholic Church to do what appears to have been lacking in past investigations, which is the link with police,'' urged NSW Premier O'Farrell today. ''I would hope that when this report is complete it's not just presented to church authorities, it's also presented to the NSW police.''
Maybe this overall issue (of paedophile priests in the Catholic Church) is heading in the right direction but it's all far too slow and governments are too reluctant to speak out. It's in the interests of the Church for these matters to go slowly.
The big problem is not just the Catholic Church's outright refusal to report paedophiles to the police. It is also the reluctance of law enforcement agencies - who see the smoke but are reluctant to go seek out the fire - and it is the job of governments to make sure this happens.
O'Farrell says he hopes the Catholic Church will hand the report into "Father F" to the police. That's a little weak. He should not be hoping, he should be insisting on it! He should also not be waiting for a private Catholic investigation to report. They always find a way of white-washing their internal reports. He should be pressing his Attorney-General and his Police Minister to begin their own investigations into all of these matters; or calling a Royal Commission with wide-ranging powers.
How many more 'Four Corners' special investigations will it take?