Today's guilty plea by whistleblower Richard Boyle is a damning indictment of Australia's broken whistleblower protection laws. Richard told the truth about appalling practices inside the ATO that unfairly ruined lives and ruined businesses. Today as the Labor government forces a criminal conviction on him, the Greens join with millions of Australians to thank him for his courage and to offer urgent bipartisan support to fix these broken laws.
Greens Senator for NSW and Justice Spokesperson David Shoebridge:
"Today ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle has been forced to plead guilty to four criminal charges and the end result is that Australia has now criminalised courage.
"Richard Boyle exposed ATO thuggery and saved countless taxpayers from abuse and for that this government rewarded him with a criminal conviction. This is a national disgrace.
"The message that is sent with this is crystal clear, if you dare to expose government wrongdoing, then the government will destroy you.
"Richard Boyle put his career and his freedom on the line to stop people's lives being smashed by unethical practices in the ATO. He should get a medal for that, not a conviction.
"What has happened to Richard, and to other high profile whistleblowers like David McBride, proves that our whistleblower laws are dangerous for whistleblowers.
"This is the moment to act, with a new Parliament and new gross injustice.
"The Greens again invite Labor to join with us and use the guaranteed majority in both Houses of Parliament to urgently pass whistleblower reforms so that they do their job and protect truth telling."
