Opinion

There is no place for secret trials in Australia

By Kieran Pender
May 17 2021 - 5:25am
Bernard Collaery's alleged crime appears to have been telling the truth - which is just what the government won't openly admit. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos
Bernard Collaery's alleged crime appears to have been telling the truth - which is just what the government won't openly admit. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos

The prosecution of Bernard Collaery, which returns to the ACT Court of Appeal today, is about right and wrong. It was wrong for the Australian government to spy on our neighbour Timor-Leste for commercial gain. The people who spoke up about it did the right thing. It is wrong to punish them for doing so. And it is especially wrong - indeed, dangerously undemocratic - for our government to shroud their prosecution in secrecy and seek to deceive the Australian people about what actually happened.

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