Public demand the right to know

An overwhelming majority of Australians value free and transparent democracy but only a third believe we live in such a society.

An overwhelming majority of Australians value free and transparent democracy but only a third believe we live in such a society, ­according to research done in the wake of police raids on journalists’ homes and offices.

The unprecedented decision of the nation’s leading media organisations to censor their own front pages on Monday as part of the Right to Know campaign was taken off the back of research demonstrating the importance Australians place on a free and open democracy.

The catalyst of the Right to Know campaign was the Australian Federal Police raids on the home of News Corp journalist ­Annika Smethurst on June 4 this year in relation to a 2018 article she wrote for the Herald-Sun on the Australian Signals Directorate’s plans to extend its spy powers to regular citizens.

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A day later the ABC’s Sydney headquarters were raided by AFP officers over a story the broadcaster had run titled The Afghan Files, exposing potential crimes by Defence Force soldiers in the Middle East. Two journalists, Dan Oakes and Sam Clark, were named in the warrants.

News Corp is contesting the validity of the Smethurst raid in the High Court and the ABC has launched a Federal Court case.

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The campaign will run across TV, print, online and radio, asking Australians: “When the government hides the truth from you, what are they covering up?” It will look at real examples of journalists having been obstructed or censored through government ­intervention.

Research commissioned by the Right to Know coalition found 87 per cent of respondents believe it’s important for Australia to be a free and open democracy but only 37 per cent are of the view this ­describes the country at present.

Only 35 per cent of people agree the government is keeping them as informed as possible.

The public also overwhelmingly support those who call out wrongdoing in society, with 88 per cent of respondents saying these people are crucial to keeping government accountable and should be protected.

People also believe in the power of whistleblowers, with 88 per cent of respondents saying they should not be treated like criminals even if they must break the law to tell the truth.

One of the demands to the government as part of the Right to Know campaign is greater protection for whistleblowers and laws that include allowing media organisations to contest warrants by police, exemption for journalists from national security laws that make journalism an offence and less documentation stamped “secret” to repress reporting.

Writing in The Australian on Monday, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said the raid on Ms Smethurst’s home was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.

“She is a journalist doing what journalists should do — informing you of something that’s undoubtedly in the public interest — yet the government is prepared to have her jailed for telling you that,” Mr Miller writes.

On Friday News group executive for corporate affairs policy and government relations Campbell Reid and ABC head of news Gaven Morris told a Senate committee into press freedom they were still unaware whether their journalists would face criminal charges.

Attorney-General Christian Porter said on Sunday that although he “would be seriously disinclined to consent to the pro­secution of a journalist” in pursuit of public i­nterest journalism, he still could not guarantee the AFP would not want to charge the ­News and ABC journalists.