NBN-gate opinion: AFP raids unlikely to be politically linked

OPINION: Federal police pulled an all-nighter in their search for leaked NBN documents. But is there any reason to believe it was politically motivated?

WHEN Labor’s Anthony Albanese appeared on breakfast television today for his weekly gig with Coalition minister Christopher Pyne, the Australian Federal Police were still on the way back to the office after raiding the Melbourne home of an ALP staffer,

This was just one of the things that made this NBN-gate affair extraordinary.

The raids on the Labor staffer’s home in inner suburban Brunswick didn’t begin until about 11pm and finished at 5.30am, while Albanese was still in make-up in Channel 9’s Sydney studios.

Before then, the police had swooped on the offices of Labor’s former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, taking away boxes of documents and digital stuff.

It all stemmed from a referral the National Broadband Network sent to the AFP just before Christmas — prompted by the emergence of some supposedly confidential documents Conroy produced at a Senate committee hearing.

A few things should be considered here which may or may not shine light on what has happened so far.

The Federal Police hate doing “political” inquiries — especially if it is not black and white but rather sits in the murky world of grey where questions of ethics reside. Their reluctance is famous, which is why these probes are almost always drawn out.

Leak inquiries are notoriously slow and, more often than not, end in a cul de sac with no clear way out. Interviews are rare and actual raids on the offices of politicians are like hen’s teeth.

Against this, politicians are paranoid about information that goes missing and conspiratorial when it comes to chasing any hares involved.

Despite his glorious history of protecting whistleblowers, Malcolm Turnbull is said to be as studiously focused on the loss of information as anyone in Parliament.

None of this suggests police were pushed to do anything — in fact the stuff up rather than conspiracy maxim looks the best bet — or that Turnbull had anything to do with the organisation he oversaw as minister.

It does, however, explain why everyone snapped their gaze to the NBN-gate yarn and didn’t let go.

Originally published as NBN-gate opinion: AFP raids unlikely to be politically linked