THE LATEST DISPORT by the Federal Government to further erode the rule of law was confirmed in court this week, with the actions of lawyers representing Attorney-General Michaelia Cash causing Justice David Mossop to describe the continued obfuscation as a “perpetual vortex”.
I have written several times on the trial of former A.C.T. Attorney-General Bernard Collaery, who has been charged over his alleged role in exposing the bugging of Timor-Lester and the current Government’s willingness to go to extraordinary lengths in order to prosecute him.
The latest in this Machiavellian piece of governance was performed on the floor of the A.C.T. Supreme Court on Wednesday when lawyers for the Attorney-General told the court they wanted to introduce updated evidence that would show there would be severe national security issues posed if the trial went ahead in the public sphere.
Despite the appeals court last month finding that there was minimal risk posed to national security in their decision to allow much of the Collaery trial to be adjudicated in the open, lawyers argued that the situation has altered dramatically in the proceeding 20 months that it has taken for Collaery’s appeal to be heard and resolved. The fact this length of time has been entirely the Government’s own doing was unsurprisingly left off the remit.
It wants to produce new evidence that only the court, not Collaery, can see. This will entail the security risks that they believe to be prevalent if the trial is to remain in the open. It also, in one of the more sinister moves, wants to appoint a special counsel – paid for by the taxpayer – to view these documents on Collaery’s behalf.
This Kafkaesque move shows a shocking lack of judgement from a government that is mired in issues of transparency and secrecy.
[…]
https://7news.com.au/politics/federal-whistleblower-law-changes-outlined-c-4516926
https://7news.com.au/politics/judge-asks-will-collaery-case-ever-end-c-4502723
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-bernard-collaery (PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!)
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7494069/lawyer-fights-push-to-hide-secrecy-ruling/
https://www.miragenews.com/trials-of-bernard-collaery-and-witness-k-655454/
https://www.miragenews.com/collaery-trial-welcome-removal-of-secrecy-647981/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Collaery
