Whistleblowers run out of puff
Doing the right thing shouldn’t ever put you in jail but for Allan Kessing, it looks like a very grim reality. What seemed like an open and shut case of the public interest is now serving as a warning for all public servants that telling the truth and exposing corruption will not be rewarded by this government. When on Tuesday this week, former member of the Customs Air Border Security Unit at Sydney airport Allan Kessing was found guilty of leaking a classified report to the media, a ripple went out across Australia’s public service industry. The message was clear: “if you speak out, you may face jail”. The Wire spoke to National President of the Whistleblowers Association Peter Bennett and Deomcrats spokesman on accountability Andrew Murray about the effect kessing’s case will have on future whistleblowers.