Australia's Administrative Review Tribunal ruled that unclassified portions of the upcoming three-day November hearing must remain open to the public and press. Commonwealth lawyers had urged for entirely closed proceedings, claiming officials could inadvertently slip and reveal classified intelligence during testimony. Tribunal Deputy President Peter Britten-Jones denied that request, ruling the risk of accidental leaks by seasoned personnel is negligible. Top-secret portions will still be closed, but testimonies from figures like intelligence deputy director general Ewan McMillan will be partly accessible.
Key points
The Australian government must present its arguments for withholding historical espionage…: The Australian government must present its arguments for withholding historical espionage documents partly in an open tribunal setting.
Secret intelligence agencies continue to officially neither confirm nor deny the Timor-Le…: Secret intelligence agencies continue to officially neither confirm nor deny the Timor-Leste bugging operation due to national security concerns.
While unclassified segments will welcome the public, top-secret portions of the three-day…: While unclassified segments will welcome the public, top-secret portions of the three-day hearing will still occur behind closed doors.
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A campaign to uncover any documents relating to whether Australian spies bugged Timor-Leste to gain the upper hand in sensitive oil and gas negotiations will be a little less secret after a critical win by the former senator Rex Patrick.
The politician turned transparency advocate is trying to finally lift the lid on the top-secret mission in 2004 that became a public scandal years later after an ex-spy and a former attorney general attempted to mount a case in The Hague.
But the Australian government stands by its Glomar response – to neither confirm nor deny first that the bugging took place and second that any relevant documents exist.
On Friday, the administrative review tribunal (ART) ruled in Patrick’s favour, forcing the commonwealth to hold unclassified parts of the three-day hearing in late November in public.
Government lawyers argued the whole saga is so sensitive that even sections of the hearing open to the public should remain behind closed doors in case someone accidentally says something they shouldn’t.
Patrick told Guardian Australia the situation was a farce, arguing the bugging…
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