Federal Labor silent about prosecution of spy and lawyer Bernard Collaery over role in exposing bugging operation

New South Wales Labor will move a motion to condemn the “entirely inappropriate” prosecution of former spy Witness K and his lawyer, breaking with the silence of their federal colleagues.

The motion is to be moved by NSW’s shadow attorney general, Paul Lynch, with the support of the Labor caucus. It will call on NSW’s lower house to regard “the current prosecution of former Australian spy Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery as entirely inappropriate”.

It also urges state parliament to congratulate Witness K and Collaery for “their roles in exposing the bugging by Australia of the cabinet room of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste”.

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Federal Labor has so far remained silent about the case, despite pleas for them to take up the cause of Witness K and Collaery. Last month, the former Victorian premier Steve Bracks called on Labor to voice its opposition to the prosecution, which he described as “shocking”.

Lynch told Guardian Australia the pair appeared to have been targeted because they caused Australia “embarrassment”. He said the prosecution would have a “deadening effect on free speech” and said such issues should be “broadly discussed – including in parliament”.



“You shouldn’t prosecute whistleblowers. It makes it less likely that wrongdoing will be exposed in the future,” Lynch said. “And you have a sense that they’re really being pursued because of the embarrassment they’ve caused with a rich and powerful nation trying to take advantage of a poor nation.”

It was revealed in June that Collaery and Witness K would be prosecuted, with the consent of Australia’s attorney general, for unlawfully disclosing intelligence secrets.



The charges relate to their role in exposing a bugging operation mounted by Australia against the government of Timor-Leste in 2004. The mission involved Australian secret intelligence service operatives placing listening devices in Timor-Leste government buildings to give Australia the upper hand during sensitive negotiations over lucrative oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

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The actions of Witness K and Collaery led Timor-Leste to challenge the oil and gas treaty in the permanent court of arbitration. A new treaty was signed this year, one that was widely seen as giving Timor-Leste a fairer deal.

Collaery maintains that the pair did nothing wrong and raised their concerns about the spy operation through appropriate channels. Witness K went to the inspector general of intelligence services to voice his disquiet and was given approval to contact his lawyer, Collaery.

The prosecution has been roundly condemned by judges, human rights groups, anti-corruption advocates and Timor-Leste’s former president Jose Ramos-Horta.

Speaking to a rally in Melbourne last month, Bracks said Labor should commit to dropping the prosecution if they win government.

“Why would the Australian government go to the extent of choosing to proceed with a prosecution against Witness K and Bernard Collaery?” he said.