| The Attorney-General’s effective denial that the Government is waging a war on whistleblowers, in response to a question from me today in Question Time, was patent nonsense. Frankly it’s a ridiculous proposition for him to stand there crowing about all the great things the Government is doing to improve relevant legislation and the hundreds of complaints that have been made under public sector whistleblower protections. The reality is that the legislation is almost impenetrable, does not apply to all public servants, and has done nothing to protect people like David McBride and Richard Boyle. The Government needs to do more than boast about some minor legislative tweaks, and instead deeply reform the Public Interest Disclosure Act and the whistleblower protections in the Corporations Act. They should also create a Whistleblower Protection Authority which can actually protect and support whistleblowers. Until it does, all the Government talk is just vacuous political gobbledygook. |
