Scott Morrison 'not troubled' by federal police raid on journalist's home

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he is not troubled by a federal police raid on the home of a political journalist, arguing all Australians must abide by national security laws.

The Australian Federal Police raided the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst on Tuesday in connection with a 2018 story she authored concerning top-secret plans to expand surveillance of Australian citizens.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he is "not troubled" by the police raid on a journalist's house.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Police executed a search warrant granted by an ACT magistrate allowing them to search the reporter's home, computer and mobile phone as part of an investigation into unauthorised disclosure of national security information.

News Corp condemned the raid as heavy-handed, outrageous and "a dangerous act of intimidation towards those committed to telling uncomfortable truths".

Mr Morrison said Australia believed strongly in press freedom, but there were "clear rules" protecting classified information and "everybody should operate in accordance with all of those laws passed by our Parliament".

Asked whether he was concerned about the optics of police raiding the home of a political journalist, Mr Morrison said, "​It never troubles me that our laws are being upheld."

He said he supported the powers given to agencies such as the AFP to uphold the law.

Police reportedly searched Smethurst's underwear drawer in the course of the raid. Asked whether this was excessive, Mr Morrison said, "I couldn’t comment on that, that's what you are putting to me. These are matters for the Australian Federal Police and you should direct those questions to them."

Confirming the raid on Tuesday, an AFP spokesperson said it related to the unauthorised disclosure of information that was "an extremely serious matter that has the potential to undermine Australia’s national security".

Attorney-General Christian Porter said the raid was "an information-gathering exercise" undertaken by the AFP as an independent agency at arm's length from the government.

"The investigation is not about the journalist per se, it's about the disclosure of information," he told ABC radio.

Smethurst, a two-time Walkley Award winner and political editor of News Corp's Sunday tabloids, revealed last year that the Home Affairs and Defence departments were engaged in top-level discussions about giving the Australian Signals Directorate the power to spy on Australian citizens for the first time.

At the time, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the idea that "we were going to spy on Australians or collect data is a complete nonsense". But he went on to say, "We're looking at options at the moment and if we've got a proposal to put forward, we'll put it forward."

Tuesday's raid was also condemned by the journalists' union, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, as "an outrageous attack on press freedom that seeks to punish a journalist for reporting a legitimate news story that was clearly in the public interest".

It is routine for government departments to refer a leak of classified information to the AFP for criminal investigation. For example, earlier this year the Department of Home Affairs referred the apparent leaking of a confidential briefing about the "medevac bill", details of which appeared in a News Corp publication.

On Tuesday, Labor's shadow home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said she wanted to ascertain more information about what had occurred before commenting further.

The Greens' spokeswoman on media issues, Sarah Hanson-Young, called for an inquiry into what she called "declining press freedom", saying the raid had "sent a shiver down the spine" of people who valued a free press.