How Australia’s Espionage Laws Could Silence Whistle-Blowers and Activists
Under the new espionage law, anything deemed classified by the government — even something as innocuous as a lunch menu — would be seen as "inherently harmful information." You can defend your actions by arguing your story is in the public interest, with "fair and accurate reporting." But how
that is defined is subjective and if you lose, you could face up to 15 years in prison.
30, 2018
SYDNEY, Australia — When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia recently proposed new espionage laws, he stressed the need for disclosure: Public officials with ties to overseas governments
and entities would have to report any foreign effort to shape domestic politics.
For Ms. Pearson of Human Rights Watch, that means it becomes dangerous for her to talk to American or United Nations officials
about what the Australian authorities might have told her about human rights in any given country, not just Australia.
Australians said that If you pass this law you’re basically taking away f
Law Council wrote that The breadth of the expression ‘national security’ extending to the country’s political
or economic relations with another country or countries may have a stifling effect on freedom of expression,
Elaine Pearson said that It’s giving government a hell of a lot of power, and it’s dangerous,