SMH · Matthew Knott · Thursday 28 May 2026
The opposition has accused the government of using confidentiality protections “as a shield from political embarrassment” over counter-terrorism funding.
Confidentiality as a shield — the oldest trick in the dispatch box drawer. The royal commission was meant to find out what the government knew before a bloke walked into Bondi with a knife, and the government's answer is to hand the commissioners a folder with the interesting bits redacted. Menzies hid Cabinet papers for thirty years. This mob wants to hide them from the inquiry they called.