Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 18 SEPTEMBER 2019

Home affairs hypocrisy: Department praises AFP raids while claiming to support press freedom

Political opinion piece on politicians and press freedom.

AustraliaStrategy

It has been reported that Home Affairs Secretary, Mike Pezzullo, was privately praising the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for raiding the home of News Corporation journalist, Annika Smethurst, while publicly claiming to support press freedom.

The raid

Last year, Ms Smethurst published a report about the federal government's to empower Australian intelligence agencies to spy on the general public without the need for a warrant.

The publication included exerts of communications between politicians, as well as between Mr Pezzullo and Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty.

Parts of the report were critical of the Home Affairs and Defence Departments, who were pushing for greater powers to surveil the public.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

See more popular content from