Prosecutors seek suppression orders in case against tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle

Commonwealth prosecutors are searching for suppression orders within the case of former tax workplace employee Richard Boyle.

Boyle blew the whistle in 2018 on the Australian Taxation Workplace’s aggressive use of garnishee notices to claw again money owed from taxpayers and companies.

The Adelaide-based public servant first raised his considerations internally, then to the inspector common of taxation, and finally to a joint ABC-Fairfax investigation.

He has pleaded not responsible to 24 costs, together with the alleged disclosure of protected info and illegal use of listening units to document conversations with different ATO workers.

In a largely unprecedented transfer, Boyle is making an attempt to make use of Australia’s whistleblower protections to defend himself from prosecution.

The case, being heard within the South Australian district court docket, is the primary main check of the Public Curiosity Disclosure Act (PID Act). Will probably be essential in assessing the energy and sensible effectiveness of the nation’s whistleblower protections, which the brand new legal professional common, Mark Dreyfus, is considering reforming.

On Friday, commonwealth prosecutors sought suppression orders.

Guardian Australia, represented by Stephen McDonald SC, intervened to oppose the suppression orders.

An interim order was made by the court docket on Friday that quickly restricted any additional detailing of the arguments made by the commonwealth prosecutors and the Guardian throughout Friday’s listening to till an extra listening to.

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Boyle will face trial if his PID Act defence fails.

However that trial will not happen for greater than a 12 months.

The prevailing trial date was vacated on Friday and pushed again to October 2023.

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Photograph: Tim Robberts/Stone RF

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Talking after Friday’s listening to, the Human Rights Regulation Centre senior lawyer Kieran Pender stated there was no public curiosity in prosecuting whistleblowers.

“Moderately than preventing to maintain elements of the case secret, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions ought to drop the prosecution,” he stated. “If that doesn't occur, the legal professional common should intervene – simply as he did within the case of Bernard Collaery – to carry this sorry saga to an finish. Whistleblowers must be protected, not punished.”