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A-G only ‘paying lip service’ to press freedom
Prosecution and jail time are still real prospects for journalists and whistleblowers who reveal government misconduct and abuse, despite what Attorney-General Christian Porter says, argues the Human Rights Law Centre.
Jerome Doraisamy
Source: Screencap from youtube.com/watch?v=-sFDprF1qVo
Earlier this week, Mr Porter announced that he has instructed Commonwealth prosecutors to obtain his approval before charging journalists under some of Australia’s complex secrecy laws. This, HRLC said, was “an apparent attempt to address the criticism” of the Australian Federal Police’s (AFP) June 2019 raids of NewsCorp journalist Annika Smethurst and ABC’s head office in Sydney.
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HRLC legal director Emily Howie said that the A-G’s announcement “barely addresses the press freedom issues raised by the raids”.
It won’t prohibit prosecution of journalists for public interest journalism, she posited, but rather only require the Attorney-General’s consent to do so.
“Christian Porter is paying lip service to press freedom. A good Attorney-General would have taken this opportunity to completely protect and encourage journalists and whistleblowers to come forward with information about government abuses and wrongdoing,” she said.
Importantly, the announcement does not provide any new safeguard for whistleblowers, HRLC continued.
“In recent years whistleblowers have exposed the false pretences on which Australia has gone to war, police misconduct, corruption, the dangerously inadequate clean-up of nuclear waste, and the cruel treatment of asylum seekers in immigration detention,” it noted in a statement.
“Witness K and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery, are facing jail time for their role revealing that the Australian government had bugged the Timor-Leste cabinet room to gain a strategic advantage during sensitive negotiations about oil and gas revenue.”
Ms Howie said: “Australians have a right to know what the government is doing in their name, and people should be empowered to speak up when they see wrongdoing.”
“Whistleblowers also play a critical role as sources in public interest journalism. Christian Porter’s announcement just tinkers at the edges on protections for journalists and does nothing to protect whistleblowers.”
The announcement earlier this week followed home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s August directive to the AFP to take account of the importance of a free press before investigating journalists and media organisations for leaks of government information.
“The Morrison government’s response to the raids so far has been wholly inadequate. Directives from ministers do not protect brave whistleblowers, like Witness K, from serving jail time for exposing wrongdoing,” Ms Howie said.
“It remains extremely dangerous for whistleblowers and journalists to reveal information in the public interest. It’s time for the Attorney-General to demonstrate that he cares about a free press and change laws to provide actual protection.”
