One of the country’s leading political figures remains under attack for the use of a private email server for government business. But the person involved is not Hillary Clinton and the country is not the United States. HPR’s Bill Dorman explains in today’s Asia Minute.
The Prime Minister of Australia has been using a private email server for years—and he’s apologizing to no one. Malcolm Turnbull says he sees nothing wrong with the practice, and has told reporters in Australia that he plans to continue it.
He first set up the system several years ago, when he was serving as Communications Minister in the cabinet of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Turnbull says he’s never used it for classified communication or information. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that it’s impossible to transmit classified information to or from “anything other than a government system that is certified as appropriate for it.”
The Prime Minister says he uses the private server for email with colleagues and journalists, as well as constituents. And that’s not all—Turnbull says he also makes use of messaging apps such as Wickr and Confide—services that encrypt messages that self-destruct after they’ve been read.
He says his method of communication is efficient—and more secure than simply texting. Critics have suggested Turnbull might use his private email server to get around information disclosure laws. That charge is hotly denied by a spokesman for the Prime Minister…who says all communications relating to government business are subject to freedom of information laws—no matter where they’re stored.
