Yabby
I have some sympathy for your point of view and the value of privacy . However, our personal emails are not relevant to the formulation of policy, something that affects us all in a democracy.

As a former public servant I would have no problems in seeing my emails published should it be deemed important enough to government business, even the ones that might reveal the impact of lack of resources on service delivery including criticisms. In reverse emails that criticise myself (if they exist-I suspect they do) would also be welcome. I am quite capable of arguing a point and giving reasons for my actions, if it relates to taxpayer funded programs.

Taxpayers should be able to access far more information than they currently do including a breakdown of expenses clearly displayed on a website (just one idea).

If you are a public figure and have the power to make decisions that affect other people, those actions should be transparent. A personal email to your wife or mistress is just that 'personal'. It is not relevant to government policy nor is one asking what is on the menu for dinner, or what coloured underpants one is wearing. I don't think Wikileaks or similar expose' sites would be interested nor would it be in the basket of 'public right to know'.

Granted there are shades of grey on this but in the long term these actions serve rather than hinder democracy. Integrity is a two way street.

Yabby, if you don't want others to air your dirty laundry for you, then don't take a public position. What my wife and I or you and yours gets up to has nothing to do with other people, it is our private life. Our private lives do not effect the public directly, so they have no right to them. A politician, actor, singer, have put certain parts of their life in the public domain; by doing so they must accept that certain things they say and do are going to be made public, particularly matters that effect the public. Now if these docs were about their private lives and what they and the partners get up to in the privacy of their own lives, then yes I would agree with you.

*Taxpayers should be able to access far more information than they currently do including a breakdown of expenses clearly displayed on a website (just one idea).*

I have no problem with that at all, Pelican.

*What my wife and I or you and yours gets up to has nothing to do with other people, it is our private life*

Ah RawMustard, but she might want to know, what you have been
saying confidentially, to the cute new secretary at work. It
might as well be exposed, so people know the truth about you. The
same goes for your employer.

Sorry, but if somebody tells me something in private confidence,
that is where it stays. If anyone published those things, by
whatever means, for me they would be fair game

All the way thinker, This guy is in the true aussie spirit the one we have been loosing over the last decade. Time a few more people realise it and start back in the right direction.
As for these charges, Sex has always been a surprise to me.

The following website may be of interest to some:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jul/14/julian-assange-whistleblower-wikileaks

Yabby,

When you say, "My integrity is important to me." in the context of this discussion, what you probably mean is that from your point of view the "perception" of your integrity by those who know you is important to you.
If by "integrity" you mean the adherence to moral and ethical principles and honesty - these are the qualities we expect to be demonstrated by those who we employ to represent our interests in the public arena.
Wikileaks reveals instances where our perception of the integrity of our representatives does not match their conduct. They are paid by us and are, therefore, in our service. We have every right to expect transparency.