Government’s costly efforts to keep secret the gender identity of an Aussie spy – keeps it at 1 person in 18 million. Is it Hymie or is it Agent 99? What’s the scam?
I won a fight for access to documents related to the history of the Australian Defence Force in Timor. The Information Commissioner ruled I, and the public, could have the documents.
The Government appealed that transparency decision to the Administrative Review Tribunal and have put forward new secrecy excuses; excuses not argued at the Information Commissioner’s review stage.
They’ve bought in (someone I believe to be) a spy to give evidence; top secret evidence – they claim.
All of that is a scam in its own right.
But there’s more. There’s another layer of scam on top of that.
I insisted I be allowed to cross examine the spy. At the insistence of Government, I did so by ‘chat’.
I asked a question. The Government typed the question into a secure chat app. The ‘spy’ typed back. I was then told the answer (assuming the Government’s senior coun$el didn’t object).
Talk about theatre of the absurd.
Personally, I would have been happy for the spy to sit in the Tribunal with a paper bag over their head. That’s been done before.
But it turns out that would have given the game away – apparently.
The Government accidentally revealed the spy’s gender in the hearing and they’re now claiming that national security will be in peril if you know … male or female.
Government lawyer’s email to the Tribunal
After all, there are only 18 million adults in Australia (assuming their witness wasn’t a spy kid) and so if you know the gender, it means you could narrow the field of possible identities to 1 of nine million men or women.
But apparently that’s just too risky.
I’ve objected and will let you know where things end up. But, at least for now, you understand the problematic and unhealthy nature of the Albanese government’s secrecy addiction.
Rex Patrick is a former Senator for South Australia and, earlier, a submariner in the armed forces. Best known as an anti-corruption and transparency crusader, Rex is also known as the "Transparency Warrior."