Afghan war crimes whistleblower David McBride languishes in prison while war crimes perpetrators roam free. David McBride writes for MWM on politics and whistleblowers.
As most of MW readers will know, I’m presently serving a five year sentence for the crime of being a whistle blower. From within my prison I watch the much vaunted National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) continue to do nothing, the Office of Special Investigator (OSI) continue its fumbling, and Ben Roberts-Smith travels the world.
While there is much more to government than simply law, justice and transparency, the fact that Labor promised so much in this space but delivered so little shows they can’t be trusted to deliver what they promise in any area. They certainly don’t deserve to be re-elected to office on the basis of their promises versus their actual treatment of whistleblowers.
Over the next three weeks Labor will promise the world, and announce a raft of ideas that will sound plausible, one of which is likely to be the Whistleblower Protection Authority. While this sounds good, as the idea of the NACC did before it, it is likely be just as much a disappointment. At least if historical performance is any guide.
As with the NACC and the OSI, the WPA will likely be staffed with specially appointed government-friendly staff who are well aware of their unwritten brief: act busy, do nothing.
Probably only one thing is guaranteed about this election: that in three years time Australia...
it made false statements on customs forms to avoid paying tariffs on some imports from China, rejecting the company's argument that the Tariff Act leaves no room to invoke the False Claims Act. . ....