How Australia’s Espionage Laws Could Silence Whistle-Blowers and Activists<br />Under the new espionage law, anything deemed classified by the government — even something as innocuous as a lunch menu — would be seen as "inherently harmful information." You can defend your actions by arguing your story is in the public interest, with "fair and accurate reporting." But how<br />that is defined is subjective and if you lose, you could face up to 15 years in prison.<br />30, 2018<br />SYDNEY, Australia — When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia recently proposed new espionage laws, he stressed the need for disclosure: Public officials with ties to overseas governments<br />and entities would have to report any foreign effort to shape domestic politics.<br />For Ms. Pearson of Human Rights Watch, that means it becomes dangerous for her to talk to American or United Nations officials<br />about what the Australian authorities might have told her about human rights in any given country, not just Australia.<br />Australians said that If you pass this law you’re basically taking away f<br />Law Council wrote that The breadth of the expression ‘national security’ extending to the country’s political<br />or economic relations with another country or countries may have a stifling effect on freedom of expression,<br />Elaine Pearson said that It’s giving government a hell of a lot of power, and it’s dangerous,
