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Dropping of prosecution against Bernard Collaery has ‘restored the rule of law’, expert says

Geoffrey Watson, a senior counsel and a director of the Centre for Public Integrity was on the ABC earlier this morning reflecting on the Australian government’s actions in 2004 bugging of the cabinet office of Timor Leste amid negotiations over gas and oil, in light of the news the prosecution against Bernard Collaery has been dropped:

I do think it was that one of the most disgraceful moments in Australia’s conduct of international affairs since the second world war.

It is stealing the assets of one of our closest geographical neighbours but also one of our closest political friends. Also, as you said, it is an impoverished nation. We are stealing from a nation with people less than ours. I thought the whole thing was awful.

Watson says the authorities of the day, who pursued this action against Bernard Collaery, were “legally speaking” in the wrong:

Legally speaking, they were wrong, but they were politically foolish. It is absolutely appalling. I remember during the height of the Cold War how we would hold ourselves morally superior to the Soviet Union and one of the things we would say is can you believe it, how do they conduct these criminal trials in secret?

Yet, here, Australia starts taking the same approach. This basal notion of the way that justice should be dispensed and the way public should be engaged with the issues, behind the conduct of the government. It was just a terrible moment.

Also politically stupid because the fact is it did not need to happen. Mr Brandis, attorney general had this brief initial for a very long time and carefully did nothing with it. Christian Porter thought better of that and started this. Then we had attorney general Michaelia Cash do nothing about it. Can I just say thank you and congratulations to Mr Dreyfus, the new attorney general, for having the courage act. It would have been easier for him to do nothing. This is what I expect from him. He was a lawyer and top-level barrister and he was a man who presented arguments, a lucrative legal practice which is surrendered, really grateful he has restored the rule of law in Australia.

Asked about the precedent it sets for secrecy:

Oh, dear! This should never happen again. We should never been a position where we have these kinds of appalling secret trials. If someone presented this as an outline for a novel, 10 years ago, I would have said they were never publishing that. It’s just absurd, they didn’t do that in Australia. Imagine conducting a trial in secret. We still do not know the name of Witness K and what’s more, he cannot tell us.

Watson also added his name to those calling for an inquiry into the matter:

Asked about whether there should have been a prosecution of Witness K who ended up with a three-month sentence, he said:

It comes back to this. What we did when we barred those premises and it was so carefully planned and put in place, it was complicated, they put it in place for the head and it was a thoughtful, deliberate piece of planning. That was a disgraceful act. I want to praise Witness K for coming forward, to do what he did to try to expose this because we would not have known about it otherwise, and I thank Bernard Collaery for his involvement and encourage that. I go step further and say the matter should not be left here.

I’m not the first to do this but I wish to add my name for those who have called for an inquiry to be conducted into who either ordered, or approved this at a political level. It is different to dealing with spine, where they are following orders. I want to know what was at a political level, who either encouraged, ordered or approved this disgraceful thing! Listeners need to know the story of how awful this was in the way we went about it.