US whistleblower blames Australian government for 'Orwellian' axing of conference speech

Thomas Drake and academic Suelette Dreyfus were dropped from the line-up at a Melbourne cyber conference at the last minute

A whistleblower and an academic have said pressure from the Australian government's top cyber security agency led to their speeches being cancelled at a conference in Melbourne.

Former NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, and Melbourne University academic Dr Suelette Dreyfus were both due to speak at the Australian Cyber Conference in Melbourne on October 7-9.