Media chiefs appeal to Dutton for action against AFP raid journos to stop

News Corp and the ABC appeal to Peter Dutton over AFP action against journalists.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson (L) with Bridget Fair CEO of Free TV Australia, Nine CEO Hugh Marks, SBS Director of Corporate Affairs, Clare OÕNeil and Campbell Reid, Group Executive — Corporate Affairs, Policy and Government Relations for News Corp Australia, FOX SPORTS & Foxtel. Picture: Kym Smith.

News Corp and the ABC have appealed to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton for any action against three journalists targeted by the Australian Federal Police to cease.

In an email to staff today, the ABC’s managing director David Anderson said the public broadcaster was “disappointed” the fate of journalists Dan Oakes and Sam Clark, who have been caught up in an AFP investigation over a series of stories they wrote in 2017, remained unclear.

“We have written to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who has responsibility for the AFP, asking that any action against the pair cease. Failing that, that the ABC be briefed on when and how the AFP action will be resolved,” Mr Anderson said.

“The government has referred media freedom issues to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. While we have reservations about the terms of reference of the inquiry and the appropriateness of that committee to grapple with broader issues relating to the ability of the media to perform its democratic function to inform the public, we will work with the Australian Right to Know coalition to make the case for reform.”

The Australian understands News Corp Australia has written to Mr Dutton in similar terms.

Media executives met with Attorney-General Christian Porter last week, who told them to go directly to the police and Mr Dutton to raise their concerns.

Anthony Albanese appeared to call on the Morrison government to take action to strengthen press freedom “right now” and questioned why the raids, which “received considerable negative publicity internationally”, took place so long after the stories were published.

“I do find it quite extraordinary that a government that’s presided over these attacks on press freedom has a Foreign Minister overseas speaking at conferences about press freedom. I think that Australia would have more credibility if we get our act together right here, right now,” the Opposition Leader said.

“This was a global story, a major police raid on the national broadcaster over issues which, quite frankly, have been aired publicly some time ago. The delay until after the election … was over still hasn’t been properly explained in my view.

“We need to take press freedom seriously and we need to act to make whatever changes are necessary to ensure that people have confidence that our media can play the role in a democracy that they’re meant to do.”

Mr Anderson told staff that demands for reform from the media companies were “straightforward and can be easily addressed by lawmakers and regulators”.

“We want journalism decriminalised; stronger protections for whistleblowers; the right of the media to contest the issue of search warrants; and reforms in areas like defamation, FOI and secrecy classifications,” he said.

The AFP raided the home of Annika Smethurst, a journalist with News Corp Australia, in June over a 2018 story suggesting the country’s cyber spy agency could for the first time monitor Australians.

The next day, the ABC’s headquarters were raided over the ABC’s The Afghan Files, in which hundreds of pages of secret defence force documents were leaked to the broadcaster and written up by Oakes and Clark.

The raids triggered separate announcements by the government and Labor for inquiries into press freedom, with Scott Morrison opting to look at the powers of police and intelligence agencies and their impact on a free press through PJCIS.

Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally’s motion to establish a joint select committee on the public’s right to know, which would have spanned both houses and included crossbench members, was defeated in the Senate.

Mr Dutton would not comment on whether he would or could stop any AFP action against the journalists.