David Killick analysis: A doubleplus ungood directive from the Ministry of Truth over Tassie data breach

Translate “gaps in information” into Latin and it could pass as the state motto, David Killick says, as he blasts the call for MPs and the media to stop talking about the hacking crisis.

• Explained: How to protect yourself from the Russian data hack

DPAC chief Jenny Gale and Police Commissioner Donna Adams’ letter to MPs and the media telling them to stop talking about the data breach has rightly been described as “so Tasmanian”.

After a week of prevaricating and hosing down the extent of a data breach, the government now wants to “position our response as the central source of truth”.

That ship sailed when we found out Minister Madeleine Ogilvie had been sitting on the news for a week.

The letter says in part: “in publicly responding to a cyber security incident, we have a responsibility to reassure the public and avoid panic”.

The perception that the government isn’t keeping the Tasmanian people in the loop will do little to “reassure the public”.

This is the same mob that tried to hose down reporting of child sexual abuse that led to a Commission of Inquiry.

“The security advice is that continual coverage, beyond informing Tasmanians when there is a release of data, can increase the cyber risk to Tasmania. I would appreciate your co-operation by heeding the same advice and not doing any further media.”

The advice is spectacularly and manifestly wrong.

Minister Madeleine Ogilvie with Rob Williams Deputy Secretary of Government Services. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

What has increased the risk are the exactly things that the opposition and media should be asking questions about: chronic underspending on cybersecurity, outsourcing to third parties and shifting of our data from government servers to the cloud and offshore providers, the failure to protect data in storage and in transit with adequate encryption.

Any public servant worth their salary would have rejected such ludicrous advice rather than trying to stop MPs and the media from talking about an issue.

We are paying people to keep us in the dark. That’s not how democracies should work.

There is no good reason why a government should not be held to account for its response or its record in this area. Rather than meekly deferring to advisers, someone should be taking charge.

The Russians already have all the stolen data they are going to strip from third-party services used by the government.

It is astonishingly unlikely they are reading the Mercury website or the transcript of a Jen Butler press conference to decide their next move.

The letter notes: “They have also advised that it is critically important that communication does not leave gaps in information which encourages others to speculate or mistruths to develop.”

Gaps in information? Translate “Gaps in information” into Latin and it could pass as the state motto.

Nobody from the government fronted the media or answered questions about this on Monday. The Premier appeared to be on leave, the Police Minister was posting selfies and the Minister for Science and Technology appeared to be missing in action.

Unelected public servants and unknown advisers have told them, the media and the opposition to shut their traps.

At least we know who is running the joint.

Is it too much to expect the bare minimum: to be told what the government knows, what it doesn’t know and what action we should be taking in response?

This is the worst time to be going quiet, especially for a government with an already patchy record of telling the Tasmanian people the whole truth.