We start with a retrospective chat about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the USSR and the corrosive effects of secrecy and cover ups.

Australia is thankfully not like the Soviet Union – far from it – but the government management of information about Defence and national security is becoming increasingly paranoid, self-destructive and harmful.

It is now routine for all media requests to be totally ignored by the Department and for Ministers to propagate an entirely false picture of the status of the ADF – and in particular ignore the consequences of trying to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

This goes right to the top – including Ministers and senior military figures – who rather than provide useful information rely instead on cheap appeals to patriotism. This is irrational and harmful.

Thankfully there are some positive examples from the U.S. about how the dissemination of information could, and should, occur.

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