Department warned Mark Dreyfus ending Collaery prosecution would fuel pressure to do same for David McBride

Freedom of information documents sought by former senator Rex Patrick outline ‘key risks’ attorney general was advised of in Bernard Collaery case

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The Attorney-General’s Department warned Mark Dreyfus that his intervention in Bernard Collaery’s case would fuel political pressure on the government to also end the prosecutions of Richard Boyle and David McBride, documents show.

Dreyfus won praise for his stance in the Collaery case, where he made unprecedented use of powers in the Judiciary Act to stop the lawyer’s prosecution for revealing Australia’s espionage on its impoverished ally Timor-Leste during oil and gas negotiations.

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