Phil told FIVEAA Breakfast on Friday:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government through its agencies is potentially going to jail journalists and public servants for trying to tell the public some fairly innocuous stuff\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very serious. You can\u2019t blame the police because they\u2019re just upholding the law as is. The government is trying to say, \u2018Nothing to do with us\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s rubbish. They\u2019re government departments\u2026 anything they don\u2019t want us to know because it might be embarrassing they classify as national security and it\u2019s just an abuse of that national security caveat\u2026. Knowing this stuff isn\u2019t a threat to national security.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just an attack on the press, it\u2019s an attack on people\u2019s right to know basic stuff. When asylum seekers used to come to Australia by boat\u2026 the government used to issue a press release\u2026 why is that now a national security [issue]? It\u2019s not national security, it\u2019s because the government is embarrassed if it happens\u2026 so they classify it national security.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be very careful. This is police state stuff. It\u2019s not deliberate but it\u2019s the way it looks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a very serious issue, I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
LISTEN:<\/p>\n\n
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