The curious case of Timothy Byrnes, ASIO and the National Security Hotline

This is done to one person but it coincides with a historical occasion via a little touch of Manchester Guardian history, and now with a French Presidential apology. Why do such events occur over time, conducted by those who the taxpayer pays to uphold the constitution and the law of the land.

The curious case of Timothy Byrnes, ASIO and the National Security Hotline

The curious case of Timothy Byrnes, a complaint to ASIO and a call to the National Security Hotline provides a cautionary tale for reporters who move between the worlds of the media and government in Australia.

Byrnes, a young Canberra-based freelance journalist, took a job in March as a media officer with the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, the same department responsible for advising the Government on the media.

It was to prove a shortlived and very unhappy experience.

After just three-and-a-half days, Byrnes was sacked for what the department described as “serious reputation and security issues” allegedly arising from his previous work as a freelancer.

When he told the story of his dismissal to Fairfax Media, senior bureacrats contacted ASIO and rang the counter-terrorism National Security Hotline to report him as a security threat.

More than 350 documents totalling more than 900 pages were subsequently produced relating to Byrnes’ fleeting public service career.

And that hillock of paperwork — released under Freedom of Information — provides a disturbing insight into government views about journalism.

Prior to his abruptly ended stint in the public service, Tim Byrnes had been working for the media and in public relations for seven years. According to Peter Fray, former editor in chief of the Sydney Morning Herald, who encountered Byrnes while editing The Canberra Times in 2008, “Tim is in love with the idea of journalism and being a journalist.”

An interest in Russian history led Byrnes to travel frequently to Russia, and in 2008 he got what he hoped would be a big break: an opportunity to go “behind the lines” with Russian forces during the short but violent conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia.

Byrnes, who filed stories from South Ossetia for Fairfax Media and was interviewed via satellite by Sky News, has remained closely engaged with events in Russia and Georgia.

Early this year, he was pitching to the SBS Dateline program a story about arms trafficking through Georgia when the job opportunity as a media officer came up.

Central to the proposed documentary was a video that purported to show a meeting between US Homeland Security agents and arms dealers.

But much more work needed to be done to corroborate the evidence in the allegedly leaked video and SBS wasn’t interested in pursuing the story. So, on March 6, having abandoned the project, Byrnes took up what was to become his highly contentious departmental job, found for him by the recruitment agency Hays.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/the-curious-case-of-timothy-byrnes-asio-and-the-national-security-hotline-20120726-22tj1.html#ixzz21lgUSdnU

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