They blame Assange, but embarrassed officials can blame themselves.
If you were a public servant in Australia with a strong moral compass and you came across corruption and maladministration in your department, who would you disclose it to? A journalist who cannot guarantee your anonymity - or WikiLeaks, where your protection is guaranteed?
The chorus of whingeing from governments around the world over WikiLeaks' publishing of US diplomatic cables is loud. There seems to be little understanding that, in part, WikiLeaks has grown out of a culture of excessive government secrecy.
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For decades, the win-win situation of proactive disclosure of information (make all government information public unless it threatens the privacy of individuals or the security of the state) has been put to governments around the world.
The argument goes like this. Representative democracy is built on trust. One way of earning trust as a government is by being open about what you do - as far as possible. This will in turn mean that the public feels trusted with access to quality, un-spun information and will be more likely to take part in the political process.
Freedom of information laws are based on this belief. Unfortunately, FOI has, with a few exceptions, been used as a public relations instrument to project a false image of transparency and openness.
The most common responses to FOI requests - in Australia and around the globe - have been long turnaround times, excessive processing costs and stalling.
Most Australian governments are implementing FOI reforms, but it will be some time until we know if this will make it easier to acquire government-held information.
Perhaps WikiLeaks will provide an incentive to make FOI work better in practice?
Government secrecy provided fertile ground for WikiLeaks
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