During my last months as Australia's ambassador in Cambodia, I had the odd experience of reading words from a secret cable I had sent to my employers in Canberra plastered all over the front pages of a Sunday newspaper.
I had reported the outbreak of fighting in Phnom Penh on 4 July 1997 as a long-planned insurgency by military forces loyal to Prince Ranariddh, leader of the royalist party Funcinpec, against the legitimate state authority of his co-Prime Minister, former communist Hun Sen.
While Hun Sen had been on holiday in Vietnam, Ranariddh fled without notice to Thailand, where he announced to the world that Hun Sen had staged a coup against him.
I advised my Minister that this was a last-ditch gamble by Ranariddh to recover his political fortunes. Ranariddh's power had drained away, but Hun Sen was still internationally mistrusted. I expected Ranariddh's ploy to fail, because Hun Sen had the authority at home and the steel his rival lacked.
I advised that Australia should not come out in support of Ranariddh's claim, but should await the military outcome which I predicted would soon go Hun Sen's way.
Most of this got into the Sunday newspaper, as the war still raged. I did not know whether to be proud or embarrassed: I had intended my private advice to remain private.
When I asked if the leak would be investigated, I was told not to be silly. It seemed my cabled advice had been leaked from the top, as a trial balloon: if I was wrong, I could be disowned.
Fortunately, my advice turned out to be right. Hun Sen saw off the threat, and consolidated his power. Australia accepted this outcome. I had to wear the silent reproach of valued Funcinpec and human rights movement contacts in Cambodia, who regarded me as having betrayed their cause.
I view the leaking of my cable, presumably by someone in Alexander Downer's office, as an unethical breach of trust towards me and the Australian diplomatic service.
So I have been reading the WikiLeaks controversy in recent weeks with wry amusement. Sometimes, people in high places leak embassy confidential reporting when it suits them politically to do so.
I do not regard Julian