MARK DREYFUS
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
PORTER EMBARRASSED AGAIN ON MEDIA FREEDOM
A day after being embarrassed by his Prime Minister over media freedom, Attorney-General Christian Porter has today embarrassed himself with a desperate stunt in Question Time.
Unlike the Attorney-General and Prime Minister, Labor will fight for freedom of the press and the public's right to know. Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their job.
After the explosive revelation of highly classified documents being leaked to Annika Smethurst, in 2018 I wrote to the then Prime Minister asking him to establish an investigation into how such sensitive information was able to find its way into the public domain.
Today, in an effort to distract attention from the Morrison Governments ongoing failure to uphold press freedom, the Attorney-General sought to misrepresent the content of that letter. The full letter is attached below.
Labor did not call for police to investigate journalists for reporting on leaked government documents. The letter was entirely directed to the Governments incompetence and its inability to secure sensitive information.
Labor expressed no concern about the reporting by journalist Annika Smethurst, let alone call for her to be investigated for her reporting of the information she was given.
Mr Porters bumbling attack further highlights the Morrison Government's deep divisions over where they stand on press freedom.
It shows, Mr Porter is copying the Prime Minister in being loose with the truth and refusing to be accountable to the Australian people.
It comes a day after the Prime Minister repudiated Mr Porters direction that prosecutors will need his approval before charging Dan Oakes, Annika Smethurst or Sam Clark.
The Attorney-General is still to clarify what the Prime Ministers statement means for his direction.
The Attorney-General still cannot say whether the three journalists face the prospect of prosecution or even jail.
This is a Government that does not know where it stands on freedom of the press and the Australian public's right to know.
A strong and independent media is vital to holding governments and opposition parties to account and Labor will continue to stand with journalists and the Right to Know Coalition to fight to defend and to strengthen press freedom.
TUESDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2019