The Australian Editorial: Hill must end the culture of secret defence 07dec01
WE find out about where our soldiers are from foreign wire service photographs. We hear from Pentagon officials and American newspaper reports that Australian SAS troops are involved with US Marines in an advance on Kandahar - reports our Defence Minister took more than a day to clarify. And we hear first about possible terrorist plots against us via an after-dinner speech by an Indian minister. Our Government, whose war effort relies so much on the goodwill and trust of the Australian people, had better have a good reason for extending its policy of secrecy at all costs. We fear, however, that there is none. The Australian officer overseeing our deployment in the war on terrorism, Brigadier Ken Gillespie, has been gagged by the Howard Government. While he keeps mum somewhere in a trailer somewhere outside the US Central Command in Florida, American, British, Canadian and French officers are prepared to release information to their citizens about what their forces are doing. How different things were during the East Timor crisis, when Peter Cosgrove gave constant briefings, shored up support for our involvement and became a popular public figure. The question is why have we closed up shop now? There is no excuse that providing general details of troop activities or locations will jeopardise operations - if the Americans and British are doing it, why are we so special? The culture of secrecy casts a wide net, extending from defence to immigration matters. There was the disgraceful concealment from public view of the navy's role in repelling boatpeople, from the moment the Tampa approached Australian shores in late August. And the policy of restricting the media's contact with asylum-seekers remains in force. The Government's justification that this protects their privacy is bogus. The Press Council is right to urge the Government to allow journalists access to asylum-seekers in mandatory detention because of "the right of the Australian people to know what the Government is doing in their name". Much of the secrecy is the legacy of Peter Reith's unacceptable campaign to restrict access to information when he was defence minister. From the moment the Government made the unsubstantiated claim that boatpeople had thrown their children overboard, he obfuscated, waiting weeks to release the video that in the end contained no evidence to back up his comments. We're still waiting for an inquiry. Now it is up to the new minister, Robert Hill, to change the culture that has pervaded the defence forces, spread into immigration matters and is indeed endemic across the nation in courts everywhere. Senator Hill's style is different. On other issues, such as Kyoto, Kakadu and uranium mining, and even salinity, he's been willing to sit down with all parties and foster debate. Yesterday, Senator Hill pledged the defence force would be as "open as they can be", in keeping the public informed on defence operations - but still could not enlighten us much. Senator Hill has a lot of work to do. Howard government controls on information are stricter than in countries such as Indonesia. When Sondos Ismail survived the sinking of a boat heading for Australia in October, she was rescued and taken back to Indonesia. Australian media interviewed her about her struggle to save her three daughters before they drowned. Had she come to Australia and been taken to a detention centre, there would have been no press access. Australians have a right to know what is happening to asylum-seekers in detention centres on Australian soil, or in nearby countries, under the "Pacific solution". But, just as importantly, the Australian public has a right to know what military actions the Government is taking on its behalf, just as the Government has a duty to tell us. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,3390127,00.html ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
