BY SARAH STEPHEN
Former Australian diplomat Tony Kevin has this month been awarded international whistleblower of the year by the respected UK-based organisation Index on Censorship.
The citation for Kevin's award reads: "The former Australian ambassador to Cambodia uncovered the truth about the sinking of a boat [SIEV-X] and the drowning of 353 people, mostly women and children, inside a stretch of international waters covered by an Australian navy operation to detect and repel asylum seekers. Kevin's dogged investigation and public comments broke the Canberra cover-up and drew worldwide attention to the cruelties of Australia's anti-asylum seeker strategy."
He accused a wide range of public servants and political leaders of "a huge and sustained cover-up involving the highest in the land".
The award comes a month after the rejection by University of NSW Press of Kevin's book on the SIEV-X disaster. Following consultation with a range of anonymous readers and advisers, publisher Philippa McGuinness notified Kevin that, while they were "extremely supportive" of his work, feeling that it was "a story that must be told", they could not offer him a contract for his book.
McGuinness explains that comments from advisers "have raised alarm bells", and that "there is a kind of in-principle support for the book but nervousness about it too". A huge blow to Kevin, it means that his book may not be published for some time. In his reply to McGuinness, Kevin wrote that he was "appalled and sickened" by the decision. "The idea of a robust and investigative media [in Australia] is largely an illusion — as the UNSW Press decision ... shows."
To follow developments in the SIEV-X issue, visit <http://www.sievx.com>.
From Green Left Weekly, April 16, 2003.
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