The Telegraph says: Police raids increase journalists’ resolve

The AFP have committed a serious own-goal here. Raids will not stop News Corp journalists from ­pursuing stories that are in the public interest without fear or favour.

The 6th of June marks the start of the commemorations of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces landed in Normandy and opened up the second front that would ultimately lead to the crushing of the Nazi regime.

How disappointing it is then that three quarters of a century later, some of the very rights the 3000 Australian soldiers who took part in the landings fought for are being eroded right before our eyes.

News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst.

Because while there may not be jackboots marching in the streets, this week has seen a ­dramatic escalation in the Australian Federal Police’s crusade against one of the bulwarks of our society, a free press.

First there was the raid on News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst’s home, which saw AFP officers spend seven long and distressing hours going through her personal items and even her trash in an attempt to find her source for a story about the government’s attempt to increase its spying power.

Then there was word from 2GB’s Ben Fordham that he, too, was under investigation for his revelations about asylum seeker boats coming from Sri Lanka.

And, finally, there was Wednesday’s raid on ABC headquarters in Ultimo, which saw officers use a vastly expansive warrant to scoop up data, files, notes, emails, and anything else one could think of under the justification of investigating a two-year-old story about the conduct of Special Forces in Afghanistan.

While perhaps one investigation could — possibly — be countenanced as standard operating procedure, news of as many as three in 24 hours feels like a pattern with harassment and intimidation as its aim.

Nice try but the AFP have committed a serious own-goal here.

Such actions will not stop News Corp journalists from ­pursuing stories that are in the public interest without fear or favour, and we are sure the same thing goes for our counterparts in other organisations.

Federal police officers raiding the home of News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst on Tuesday.

In the midst of this depressing saga, it is also worth noting the dismissive, third-rate reaction of PM Scott Morrison to the raids, to the effect of, “it never troubles me that our laws are being upheld”.

In this he seems no better than Greens leader Richard Di Natale who expressed desire to criminalise journalists he didn’t like during the federal election campaign.

If Mr Morrison imagines the press will let up on vital stories that could embarrass his government, he should think again.

HE’LL BE CORKSCREWED

It’s hard to imagine a more north shore crime than stabbing someone with a corkscrew in a dispute over Tony Abbott, but that’s apparently what happened just before the last federal election.

In a Manly court yesterday, Stravros Economides pleaded guilty to the bizarre wine opener attack on volunteers who were putting up Tony Abbott posters in Balgowlah.

Former prime minister and defeated Liberal candidate at the recent election Tony Abbott. Picture: Tim Hunter

It was a bizarre act by someone who should have known better.

The 62-year-old Economides is no random tough but a senior partner with KPMG.

We’ll find out what a court does with him on July 4, though his HR department may hand down a tougher sentence far sooner.

WENTWORTH MUSTN’T FALL

Well, it was only a matter of time. Campaigners at the University of Sydney have decided to put the school’s founder, William Wentworth, on trial posthumously — having ­already found him guilty of a raft of crimes against identity politics.

How boring. We’ve seen this all before. The campaign is of a piece with other ahistorical attempts to scour out anything that might remind us of our complex past and instead reset the clock to Year Zero.

But such pushes tend to reveal more about the lack of imagination of the campaigners, who cannot accept that history is complex and so too are its actors, than it does about their intended targets.

History is complex and should not simply be dismissed.

Any truly mature understanding of history, Australian or otherwise, can keep competing ideas in play at the same time.

Yes, some of Wentworth’s attitudes might shock us today, but none of this diminishes his achievements.

Likewise we can respect and honour the care the First Australians took for our land for millennia, and also appreciate the work done by those who built our modern nation.

Those who’d go around tearing down statues like two-bit revolutionaries should get back to class.

The Daily Telegraph, printed and published by the proprietor, Nationwide News Pty Ltd A.C.N. 008438828 of 2 Holt St, Surry Hills NSW 2010, at 26-52 Hume Highway, Chullora. Responsibility for election comment is taken by the Editor, Ben English.