Why probe is petty payback for revealing roadmap truth
Investigating the leak of the roadmap to recovery document which posed no security threat and revealed no state secrets appears a vindictive, hypocritical move.
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Investigating the leak of a document that was essentially made public just days later smacks of little more than petty payback.
It’s a disturbing development and appears a vindictive, hypocritical move by a department, and government, that leaks more than the Titanic.
But of course, some leaks are acceptable, if they push the right message to the right people at the right time.
However the keeping secret of information that might embarrass high-level decision makers, or prove controversial to governments, has become the norm.
The question must be asked, who was harmed by this leak?
It posed no security threat, revealed no state secrets, and did nothing to undermine the work of the government.
If anything, it provided some comfort to anxious business and community groups who had been crying out for clarity and transparency.
At a time when Victoria was clearly not on top of the coronavirus pandemic, it gave an insight into the government’s thinking and considerations.
Now, the very same police force who were reluctant to oversee our bungled hotel quarantine program, are diverting resources to investigate how this document was made public.
A document Daniel Andrews was at pains to stress was out of date and had no status.
It was so insignificant Victorians were urged to disregard it, despite the fact it outlined almost to the letter announcements the government came to make.
Key decisions made throughout this extraordinary year have been cloaked in secrecy.
For the most part a group of eight ministers have called the shots, with parliament limited in its sitting throughout much of the second wave. A string of leaks has uncovered government obfuscation, alleged cover-ups and the wilful hiding of information.
Whistleblowers have revealed systemic failures in contact tracing efforts and the hotel quarantine program.
While some leaks are designed to advance personal or political motives, leaks such as the one under investigation are driven by a commitment to the public good.
The decision to investigate this embarrassing leak appears little more than a move to instil fear into those brave enough to come forward with evidence of corruption or wrongdoing.
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