Originally Posted by
Horatio Leafblower
I really don't see this actually happening.
The National Party, on the other hand, is far more spiteful.
Really??? Have you not noticed that we now live in a country where the government spies on a friendly neighbour country under the guise of foreign aid work (nothing in the aid package mentioned installing bugs)... then when a government employee is so disgusted by their amoral behaviour they try to protest, goes through all the departmental processes and then when it all gets ignored, goes to the media. That person is now being prosecuted to the full extent of a draconian law based on a UK Law (which the UK have since repealed but we cling onto because Potato Head thinks being elected means we all become his personal serfs) along with their lawyer.
Yes, we live in THAT country... not the United States, where their Constitution specifically enjoins public employees to exercise due diligence in communicating with the media (e.g. telling the truth or risk prosecution) and implicitly protects journalists and the 'press' under their First Amendment. We on the other hand, live in that country where they raid the journalists home and/or offices to take documents. (they even allegedly considered doing the same to root out who leaked the Au Pair information).
20 years ago I would have said this wouldn't happen in Australia, now we are edging toward a Police State... we may not be one yet but we are certainly on the way to being one. So, let's not think for one minute that a government bureaucracy won't potentially act like a sewer rat to protect its own a-se.