✍️Write to the Attorney-General!
Military whistleblower David McBride was sentenced to more than five years in prison for exposing alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
Tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle faces criminal trial and possible prison time after exposing unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office.
It's cold-hard proof that the laws meant to protect whistleblowers are broken.
The Attorney-General has acknowledged this – and yet has failed to enact proper law reform.
Now, he is the only person with the power to drop the prosecution against Richard Boyle and pardon David McBride.
Intense public pressure has forced the Attorney General to drop an unjust prosecution once before. Now, we need him to do it again.
✍️Take a few moments to call on Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC to:
- Stop prosecuting Richard Boyle and pardon David McBride.
- Accelerate reform of our broken whistleblower protection laws.
- Establish a whistleblower protection authority.
What should I say?
- Edit the draft email: The draft message to the Attorney-General will need to be personalised before it can be sent. This is because personalised emails are more powerful and more likely to be read.
- Introduce yourself: Your email is more powerful if it is personalised. Tell the AG a bit about yourself, for example: where you live. If you feel comfortable doing so, including whether you have voted for/been a member of the ALP in the past is extra powerful.
- Express your dismay: The AG needs to know our communities are outraged by the ongoing prosecution of whistleblower Richard Boyle, the imprisonment of David McBride, and its implications for our democracy, media, and accountability.
- Demand the Attorney-General act: The most powerful thing you can say is – in your own words – that you expect the Attorney General to act.
- Be polite: Your email will not be read if it includes insults or abuse, so please remain respectful. That doesn't mean you can't be passionate though!
Why the Attorney-General?
The Attorney-General is the top law officer of Australia. As a minister in the federal government, the Attorney-General is responsible for integrity and anti-corruption reform, protecting and promoting human rights, and the Commonwealth justice system.
Mark Dreyfus KC, the current Attorney-General, has a history of introducing whistleblower protection reform. When he held the role in 2013 he introduced landmark whistleblower protection legislation – but noted at the time it was "not a perfect scheme" and needed review. Since then, Dreyfus has heavily criticised successive Coalition Governments for failing to fix the laws needed to ensure whistleblowers could speak up without retribution. Before re-assuming the role in 2022, both Dreyfus and now-Prime Minister Albanese promised to stop prosecuting whistleblowers and reform their protections.
However, years on and Dreyfus has only enacted piecemeal changes, leaving whistleblowers vulnerable and rendering our anti-corruption agencies – who rely on people feeling safe to speak out – ineffective. What's more, Dreyfus refused to use his powers to stop the prosecutions of two whistleblowers: David McBride, who was imprisoned in May 2024 for blowing the whistle on war crimes, and Richard Boyle, who exposed unethical conduct in the Australian Tax Office.
Not only is protecting whistleblowers the Attorney-General's responsibility, we know Mark Dreyfus wants to be seen as a champion of whistleblower protections. This is why writing to him and demanding he act can be so powerful.