Journos may still face press raid charges
A month after the media raids that shocked the nation, the fate of the journalists targeted by the Australian Federal Police remains unclear.
Journalists raided by the Australian Federal Police have received no assurances they won’t face criminal prosecution for reporting on leaked classified documents.
Media executives raised concerns directly with Attorney-General Christian Porter on Wednesday regarding the raids and the government’s proposed inquiry into the impact of police and intelligence agency powers on press freedoms.
“It’s a month tomorrow since those raids and we’re very disappointed that those journalists’ fates still remains unclear,” News Corp executive Campbell Reid told reporters at Parliament House.
Mr Porter declined to give any assurances that senior News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst or ABC reporters would not face prosecution after being raided by AFP officers last month.
The Attorney-General also indicated the government would push ahead with an inquiry into how police powers impacted a free press, which would be conducted by the powerful parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security.
Executives from News Corp, the ABC, Nine, Free TV, SBS and Seven West Media, who flew to Canberra to meet Mr Porter and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher today, raised concerns that the same committee which had signed off on laws regarding national security and police powers which impacted journalists’ ability to report on issues of public interest would be conducting the inquiry.
Media organisations have previously dismissed the need for an inquiry and have urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to act immediately to strengthen legal protections for whistleblowers and journalists.
They have also called for urgent changes to laws on Freedom of Information, defamation and the right to contest warrants regarding reporters or media organisations to protect the public’s right to know following the raids.
But ABC managing director David Anderson issued a statement on behalf of the group: “While our strong preference was for immediate action rather than inquiries, we will engage with any processes that seek to address the issues we have raised.”
“We will continue to push for real outcomes that strengthen the Australian public’s fundamental right to know.”
The government’s proposed inquiry would also examine whether any changes were needed regarding warrants to search media organisations and the “appropriateness of current thresholds” for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to access electronic data on devices used by journalists.
“We remain frustrated that a month after search warrants were carried out by the AFP the fate of our journalists remains unclear,” Mr Anderson said.
“We have committed to making further direct submissions both on the fate our journalists and on the specific areas where freedom of the press has been eroded and we have agreed to meet with the Attorney General and the Communications Minister again in three months.”
He added the government needed to take a leadership position on the public’s right to be informed and “to set the tone for a less secret and more open democracy.”
Journalist Peter Greste, spokesman for the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom, said slammed the government’s proposal to hold a PJCIS inquiry.
“Instead of a committee driven by members who’s primary responsibility is security, we need something that brings together all the groups involved,” he said.
“We need a collaborative taskforce set up to deliver solutions that work for everyone.
“We don’t need a report that tells us what we already know.”
Labor will push for a separate inquiry into press freedoms in the Senate tomorrow, which would also examine whistleblower protections, measures to protect the AFP’s independence and the “appropriate culture, practice and leadership” of government and senior public employees.
It would include members of both houses, major parties and the crossbench, while the PJCIS would only include MPs from the two major parties and could hold confidential hearings.
Ms Smethurst’s Canberra home was raided by the AFP one month ago over her 2018 story on talks between Defence and Home Affairs officials regarding a proposal to allow the Australian Signals Directorate to spy on Australians.
The ABC’s Sydney headquarters were raided the next day over stories published in 2017 based on leaked Defence documents which contained allegations that Australian soldiers may have committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
New 7 anchor named after brutal sacking
Channel 7 has appointed a new co-anchor months after the abrupt sacking of Sharyn Ghidella who worked for the network for 17 years.
‘Do better’: ABC sorry after racism review
An investigation into racism at the ABC found current and former staff experienced racial slurs, exclusion and being mistaken for other people of the same race.