Release the files.

This week, an unprecedented intelligence breach was exposed when the Australian Federal Police discovered two government filing cabinets at a Canberra second-hand store, of all places. Almost immediately, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation got wind of the story and the documents. These documents reportedly span five governments, dating back to that of John Howard, and cover national security, communications, immigration, welfare and racial discrimination laws.

The Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has now launched an investigation into how the ABC acquired these files, and I do agree that's important. If they broke into the store, that was wrong of them. But as risky as this may be, and even though Australian federal law states government files must be classified for at least twenty years, I believe if they remain relevant and reveal illegal conduct on the part of our politicians and/or security forces, government files should be made publicly available. These are the figures we elect or who serve to represent and protect us internationally from any perceived threat, but they should be no more above the law than everyday citizens. Hell, since they are here for the "national interest," they should arguably be even more vulnerable to prosecution if they pursue illegal actions.

This also, I think, registers as a form of censorship. Keeping these files under lock and key in a high-security vault (I imagine) where absolutely nobody besides the top tier of government officials speaks for itself. Just as for controversial artistic texts, we, as free-thinking citizens, should be able to decide for ourselves whether we even want to see/hear/read the text in question. It would also be a way of revealing the lies of so many (but not all) our leaders who claim to value honesty.

Do I think these documents should be declassified without being thoroughly checked first? No. Do I think, even if that happened, they should be thrown around like confetti? No. Some demographics wouldn't be interested in reading them either, namely children who wouldn't understand them anyway. But surely, the public as a whole have a right to know as much as possible about just what is being done in and for their nation, and by whom. There's no easier or quicker way for us all to learn that than through government files. After making his controversial 1991 movie JFK, Oliver Stone successfully pressured the first Bush Administration to declassify documents relating to the Kennedy assassination. We need more watershed events like that with legislation everywhere.