Mark Colvin: There's more trouble tonight for the embattled Canberra defence intelligence establishment. The family of Lieutenant Colonel Merv Jenkins, Australia's top spy in Washington during the East Timor crisis, is taking the Federal Government to court.

Jenkins, who provided liaison between Australia's Defence Intelligence Organisation and the CIA, killed himself five years ago after he was interrogated for handing classified information to the Americans, despite being cleared by his bosses to do just that.

For the past two years, Jenkins's widow, Sandra has been trying to win compensation from the Government, which she blames for her husband's death.

Mrs Jenkins's lawyer, Brian Hatch, says the Government is suppressing the information on the grounds of national security but he believes they're really covering up a government embarrassment.

He's talking to Andrew Fowler from the ABC's Investigative Unit.

Andrew Fowler: Brian Hatch, you are taking the Federal Government to court on Monday in Canberra, in an attempt to get documents to fight your case. Some of them are marked secret and some of them have parliamentary privilege, you can't expect to get all of those documents surely?

Brian Hatch: Certainly in relation to the parliamentary privilege, I'm not taking that issue on. I think it is appropriate that the Minister can get proper advice without that being made terribly public.

More importantly, however, is some of the documents marked secret and otherwise. I'm concerned that the Government is merely marking everything as secret until it can be shown otherwise.

Andrew Fowler: Which documents do you particularly want to see?

Brian Hatch: Well one of the difficulties with that is the descriptions given to the documents makes it very difficult to work out exactly what they are. Some of them, some of the queries I have raised with the Government is that the documents simply don't describe what might be in the document, so I don't know where I want it or not. So it is a matter of I need everything until I know otherwise.

Andrew Fowler: There is one document which is a Department of Foreign Affairs account of its involvement in the Jenkins' case. Why is this document so important do you believe?

Brian Hatch: I'm concerned that Foreign Affairs was upset that Mr Jenkins was passing over documents it didn't want passed over to the, whoever he was passing them to, and they then raised that issue with Defence and that's how the investigation started.

So, it would be helpful to know what Foreign Affairs' precise involvement in the whole process was.

Andrew Fowler: There is another document that you simply say that, if it is about East Timor, then it is not discoverable. What makes you think it involves Merv Jenkins?

Brian Hatch: The case we are running is not based on whether it's East Timor, or any other international issue. The issue is whether Mr Jenkins was able to pass over documents to allied forces.

One document that has been raised is only referred to as East Timor. If it only refers to East Timor then it is not relevant to the case. So if it refers to East Timor and they are telling me about it, it must say something about both East Timor, Mr Jenkins and the investigation.

We are interested in the fact that he was doing what he was told he was supposed to do, and then he got into trouble for it, to the extent that he was told he may go to jail, and eventually he ended up taking his life.

Andrew Fowler: What do you think you are dealing with here? Are you dealing with a case of the Government truly being concerned about national security, and they have every right of course, to protect their secrets?

Brian Hatch: I've got no concern about the Government and their secrets, because there are certain matters which should be kept secret from time to time. I'm concerned that the Government works on the basis that everything is secret and then you have to try and, I suppose, prise bits and pieces out of them.

Andrew Fowler: Do you believe that the Government is covering up because of national embarrassment, rather than national security?

Brian Hatch: I don't think it is national embarrassment, I think it is departmental embarrassment.

Andrew Fowler: In the end, what do you actually want for Sandra Jenkins and her children?

Brian Hatch: Sandra Jenkins and her family only started from the point that they wanted the Government to admit that they had made a complete mistake. They were never prepared to do that, which is why this court case started.

This case now, is simply about getting compensation for loss of support for the family, because the main breadwinner is now dead.

Andrew Fowler: Do you believe that it is not just compensation that the family wants, but they also want the truth?

Brian Hatch: The family wants the truth and the family wants an apology. With any government department, the hardest thing to get is an apology. The next hardest thing to get is the truth. It is always much easier for them to just pay money.

Andrew Fowler: When you say they want an apology, what do they want an apology for?

Brian Hatch: The apology for the way that they ran an investigation, and forced Merv Jenkins to commit suicide.

Mark Colvin: Brian Hatch speaking to Andrew Fowler from the ABC's Investigative Unit.