Media, security ‘balance’ the goal, says Payne

Foreign Minister Marise Payne is urging a ‘sensible balance’ between national security and the public’s right to know.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Picture: Kym Smith

Australia needs to strike a “sensible balance” between protecting the national interest in the face of ever-evolving security challenges and upholding the public’s right to know, Foreign Minister Marise Payne will tell the Global Conference for Media Freedom today.

Senator Payne’s speech comes a week after media executives visited Canberra seeking assurances that journalists targeted in police raids last month will not be prosecuted.

“Freedom of expression, including media freedom, is a basic human right and a fundamental element of vibrant democracies,” Senator Payne will tell the London conference.

“Australia is an open, liberal democracy guided by the rule of law, and strongly supports the principles of free press and the safety of journalists.”

Earlier this week, an Australian Federal Police submission to the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security’s review of Australia’s national agencies’ mandatory data retention regime showed the AFP used national security laws to ­access the metadata of journalists 58 times in the 2017-18 fin­ancial year.

Senator Payne will note Australia’s clear support for the protection of journalists and the right to freedom of expression as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

“Australia deplores the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Australia is also deeply concerned at the open abuse of the Vienna conventions caused by the commission and concealment of this crime,” Senator Payne will say.

“While Australia ranks relatively highly on the World Press Freedom Index, we recognise that a sensible balance needs to be reached between protecting our national interest in the face of ever-evolving security challenges and upholding the public’s right to know.

“Recognising this, the Australian government has asked a senior parliamentary committee to conduct an inquiry into how law enforcement and intelligence powers interact with protections for journalists and press freedom to ensure we strike the right balance.

“The Australian government has also invited media organisations to provide direct submissions to government on key issues of concern, and the government is looking forward to working with them over coming months.”

Last month, the AFP raided the home of News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst 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 a series of stories written in 2017 by Dan Oakes and Sam 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 the PJCIS.