Secret trials:our judges need to resist the government's pressure

Secret trials:our judges need to resist the government's pressure

The prosecutions of a former spy and his lawyer following Australia's bugging of Timor Leste raise critical questions about the independence of our judiciary and the functioning of our democracy.

  • byIan Cunliffe

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Australia's dirty secret and the trial too sensitive for an open court

Australia's dirty secret and the trial too sensitive for an open court

Of all the attempts at secrecy by successive Australian governments,the prosecution of lawyer Bernard Collaery is chilling.

  • byJohn Hewson
Gag orders on long-held gangland secrets varied for Lawyer X inquiry

Gag orders on long-held gangland secrets varied for Lawyer X inquiry

The royal commission into lawyer turned informer Nicola Gobbo has been granted the power to vary more than 50 gag orders protecting long-held gangland secrets.

  • byTammy Mills
'Whether this gets me in trouble,it remains to be seen':Xenophon attacks national security laws

'Whether this gets me in trouble,it remains to be seen':Xenophon attacks national security laws

The former senator is representing David McBride,who leaked military information that led to allegations Australian soldiers had killed civilians in Afghanistan and the police raid on the ABC.

  • byNick Bonyhady
Police fight for more secrecy over gangland informers in Gobbo saga

Police fight for more secrecy over gangland informers in Gobbo saga

The move could effectively wipe from the public record the existence of key figures who became underworld informers and helped end Melbourne’s bloody gangland war.

  • byTammy Mills
Palace Letters will be released by the end of July

Palace Letters will be released by the end of July

Hundreds of potentially explosive letters that shed light on what the Queen knew in the lead-up to Gough Whitlam's dismissal will be released next month.

  • byMax Koslowski
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National Archives still declassifying Palace Letters as historian slams delay
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The Dismissal

National Archives still declassifying Palace Letters as historian slams delay

Weeks after the High Court ordered the potentially explosive letters be released,the agency holding them won't say when they will be made public.

  • byMax Koslowski
Secret business:Labor government blanks out public's right to know

Secret business:Labor government blanks out public's right to know

Andrews government is under fire after it published business case for level crossing removals program with all but one of the 284 pages blanked out.

  • byNoel Towell
There's a dangerous twist in the prosecution of the ABC whistleblower

There's a dangerous twist in the prosecution of the ABC whistleblower

The AFP is trying to use a law that nobody has ever thought concerned government secrets to criminalise ordinary journalism.

  • byJonathan Holmes
The expenses lapdog or watchdog?

The expenses lapdog or watchdog?

The public doesn't necessarily see politicians'travel spending as evidence of greed.

  • byRichard Mulgan
Defence contractor Thales denies contempt claims

Defence contractor Thales denies contempt claims

A military business that tried to censor a government report argues it did not breach parliamentary privilege.

  • bySally Whyte&Markus Mannheim