WikiLeaks panellists censure 'virus' of government secrecy

[Joanne98]

GOVERNMENTS have become too secretive and politicians should be disqualified from Parliament if they lie, says Julian Burnside, QC.

Mr Burnside, who spoke in a panel discussion about WikiLeaks at the Capitol Theatre last night, said the number of classified documents in the US had grown by almost 10 times between 1996 and 2010. Secrecy hid incompetence and corruption and was only warranted when lives were at risk, he said. ''Of course governments have got to have secrets. But they have too many at the moment.''

Mr Burnside encouraged the audience to pressure independent federal MPs Nick Xenophon and Andrew Wilkie to push for strong whistleblower protection, to ensure that people who leaked information would not be punished.

The Age editor-in-chief Paul Ramadge said politicians should be forced to reveal reasons for hiding information. ''This issue of top secrecy is a virus that is running through our society.''

http://www.theage.com.au/national/wikileaks-panellists-censure-virus-of-government-secrecy-20110218-1azwh.html