It takes a certain kind of person to blow the whistle on an organisation. Independent Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie, one of Australia’s best-known and most successful whistleblowers, knows this all too well.
“There’s nothing in it for them, it’s just all problems they create for themselves,” he tells Capital Brief.
In 2003, Wilkie, then a senior intelligence analyst, blew the whistle on the federal government, claiming its case on the Iraq War was built on false claims. It became the launchpad for a successful political career, but Wilkie says he is the exception, not the rule.
“My example is really rare. My allegations were proven correct, I got into federal parliament and I’ve had a successful political career. I am the exception. I’m not a normal whistleblower,” he says.
