Pirate Party Australia is stunned by the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who in a speech to the Security Government conference in Canberra claimed that Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning did not release information related to government ‘wrongdoing.’ The Attorney-General stated that neither are whistleblowers for this reason[1].

“The Attorney-General appears to have forgotten that the ‘Collateral Murder’ video released by Manning clearly shows US pilots firing on civilians in Iraq[2],” said Brendan Molloy, lead Senate candidate in NSW. “What exactly does Mr Dreyfus mean when he says ‘government wrongdoing’? The US President is, as head of government, commander-in-chief of the United States military — is killing civilians not an act of government wrongdoing?”

“Surely covering up mistakes is not the mark of a transparent and competent government that shows respect for the electorate? The secret surveillance programs undertaken by the US National Security Agency do not foster trust between the state and the citizen, and undermines the very fabric of modern democracy.”

The Party believes that while a certain amount of surveillance is necessary, it should have judicial oversight in the form of a warrant, and should only be targeted at those in the warrant. There is nothing wrong with limited telecommunications interception powers being exercised in this manner, but the Australian Government’s approach has been dubious at best.

“Mr Dreyfus mentioned that the disclosures from Manning and Snowden could cause long lasting harm to Australia’s ability to identify and respond to threats, but has not provided any evidence for this statement,” continued Mr Molloy. “We are being force-fed the claim that transparency is a threat to our national security, yet those making such claims fail to rely on anything but the usual rhetoric of terrorism, which they use to keep us in the dark and misinformed. What has changed since we became aware that the United States has been imposing a surveillance regime on all Internet traffic with the complicity of the Australian Government? Nothing.”

Pirate Party Australia protests the blatant deception that telecommuncations interception powers have been properly exercised, citing the inadvertent censoring of 250,000 websites by ASIC as one example of government overreach[3]. In the United States, the PRISM program was overseen by a secret court, the opinions of which were not published, keeping the American people completely in the dark. It also seems that the US Congress may have been deliberately misled[4].

“Oversight with regard to the exercise of broad censorship and surveillance powers among Australia and its allies is frankly appalling,” Molloy stated. “Even if the activities were strictly speaking legal, exposing bad laws for what they are, or how they have been misinterpreted and abused is a necessary function of democratic discourse. Existing oversight, despite what the Attorney-General claims, is not good enough, and it is laughable to suggest that the Americans must seek ministerial authorisation before spying on Australians. As the exposure of the PRISM program shows, the United States has a total lack of respect for compliance with any privacy expectations, be they American, Australian or any other country anywhere in the world.”

Security and law enforcement agencies recently pushed for an increase in telecommunications interceptions powers, including mandatory data retention for up to two years. An overwhelming majority of submissions on the proposed reforms to national security legislation opposed such a regime, and although the Government will “carefully consider” the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to that effect, the Pirate Party pledges to go beyond mere consideration and not only block any extension of surveillance powers, but to reign in warrantless surveillance as it is already occuring by various security and law enforcement agencies in Australia.

While there is no indication of whether the Government will pursue its data retention plans if re-elected, Pirate Party Australia, which is competing in its first federal election in Queensland, NSW, Victora and Tasmania, is determined to oppose all mandatory data retention regimes if elected.

[1] http://www.zdnet.com/au/snowden-manning-not-whistleblowers-australian-attorney-general-7000019310/
[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10254072
[3] http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/how-asics-attempt-to-block-one-website-took-down-250000-20130605-2np6v.html
[4] http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/prisms-legal-basis-how-we-got-here-and-what-we-can-do-to-get-back/276667/