Risk of ‘criminalising’ media after raids, says News Corp’s Miller

The AFP chief has warned that journalists, MPs are not immune from criminal prosecutions.

AFP Acting Commissioner Neil Gaughan addresses the media at federal police headquarters in Canberra yesterday. Picture: Kym Smith

The Australia Federal Police chief has warned that journalists and MPs are not immune from criminal prosecutions, leaving open the possibility of jail terms for those found to have broken the law.

But the risk of “criminalising” journalism was criticised by News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller yesterday, and ABC chairwoman Ita Buttrose revealed she had contacted the government to raise concerns about AFP raids.

AFP acting commissioner Neil Gaughan yesterday defended ­federal police from criticism over raids on the ABC’s Sydney headquarters and the home of News Corp Australia Sunday national political editor Annika Smethurst this week.

When asked if ABC or News Corp Australia journalists should be charged, he said it was too soon to say. “I’m not going to rule in or rule out any one subject to further charges,’’ Mr Gaughan said.

“Our investigations are an ­objective search for the truth. It involve­s the discovery and present­ation of evidence in an exhaustive, comprehensive, and organised manner. No sector of the community should be immune to this type of activity or evidence collection more broadly.

“This includes law enforcement itself, the media, or indeed, even politicians. There are criminal allegations being investigated and we cannot ignore them.”

However, Mr Miller said democracy was in danger if journ­alism was at risk of being crimin­alised: “The issue is not just these recent raids but the growing number­ of laws with the power to put journalists in jail.

“It is a danger to democracy when professional news reporting is at risk of being criminalised. The times we live in demand greater examination of issues that affect Australians, not less.”

Mr Miller said News Corp stood by “both our reporting and Australia’s right to know”.

Ms Buttrose said yesterday she had raised concerns directly with Communications Minister Paul Fletcher about the police raid on the public broadcaster on Wednesday.

The previous day, the AFP spent seven hours searching through Smethurst’s Canberra home for evidence related to her report outlining a proposal for the Australian Signals Directorate to spy on Australian citizens. The ABC raid was in relation to a ­series of reports known as “The ­Afghan Files”.

Labor yesterday ramped up its attack on Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton over the raids.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus compared the row over press freedom in Australia to the D-Day commemorations.

“Mr Morrison and Mr Dutton need to stand up and explain to Australians why some of the freedoms our forefathers fought for on D-Day, 75 years ago just to ­remind people, are being threatened. That’s what happening here,” he told ABC radio.

“It’s an arrogant wave of the hand from this Prime Minister whose leadership is failing Australians if he’s letting this happen. He is not a believer on press freedom if he’s letting this happen.”

Mr Dutton defended the need to protect secrets and investigate leaks, but also left the door open to strengthening protections for journalists.

“All of us support freedom of the press,’’ he said. “If the law needs to be modernised you can have that discussion.

“Obviously, it’s a serious breach of our laws when highly classified documents are leaked and the secretary of the Defence Department makes the decision then to refer that to the federal police.”

The Prime Minister, Mr Dutton and Attorney-General Christian Porter said they did not know about the raids before they took place and it was the Defence ­Department — not cabinet ministers — who referred both matters.

The AFP acting commissioner insisted yesterday he had not ­informed government ministers of the raids or updated them on the progress of the investigations before this week. He also said the timing of the federal election did not influence the timing of its ­operations. But he left open the possibility Smethurst and ABC reporters Daniel Oakes and ­Samuel Clark could be charged with publishing official secrets.

“I reject the claim over the last few days we’re trying to intimidate journalists or conduct a campaign against the media. The AFP is a strong supporter of press freedom,” Mr Gaughan said.

Crossbench senators plan to push protections for journalists when parliament returns, with Centre Alliance proposing a referendum to inject freedom of speech into the constitution.

“Freedom of religion is enshrined in our constitution but freedom of speech and a free press are not subject to explicit protection. This is a deep-seated flaw in the foundations of Australia’s democracy,” Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick said.