Sydney - Police raided the offices of
Australia's national broadcaster on Wednesday over allegations
it had published classified material, the second raid on a media
outlet in two days, prompting complaints that the "outrageous"
raids hindered media freedom.
The Australian Federal Police said its officers
carried out a search warrant at the head office of the
government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) in Sydney
on Wednesday.
That came a day after police raided the home of a News Corp
editor, although the Australian Federal Police said the raids were unrelated.
"It is highly unusual for the national broadcaster to be
raided in this way," ABC Managing Director David Anderson said.
"This is a serious development and raises legitimate
concerns over freedom of the press and proper public scrutiny of
national security and defence matters," he said.
The Australian Federal Police said the ABC raid was in relation to allegations it
had published classified material and followed a referral from
the chief of the Australian Defence Force and a former acting
defence secretary in 2017.
The ABC raid was authorised by a court and based on evidence
that provided "sufficient suspicion that a criminal offence has
been committed", the Australian Federal Police said.
Marcus Strom, president of the Media Entertainment and Arts
Alliance trade union, said on his Twitter account the two raids
were "just outrageous".
"Police raiding journalists is becoming normalised. It has
to stop," he said.
The ABC raid was in relation to a series of broadcasts in
2017 about alleged misconduct by Australian troops in
Afghanistan, the broadcaster said.
The raid on the News Corp editor related to a 2018 newspaper
report that said Australian intelligence agencies wanted to
carry out surveillance by accessing people's emails, bank
accounts and text messages, domestic media reported.
News Corp called the raid on its employee "outrageous and
heavy handed", and "a dangerous act of intimidation".
The Rupert Murdoch-controlled company said it had "the most
serious concerns about the willingness of governments to
undermine the Australian public's right to know about important
decisions governments are making".
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was reported as
saying he believed in media freedom but that there were also
clear rules about the use of classified information.
"It never troubles me that our laws are being upheld," the
Sydney Morning Herald quoted Morrison as saying.