The ABC has written to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton asking for any police action into two of the broadcaster’s journalists to be dropped, but Minister Dutton has rejected the ABC’s request, saying “nobody is above the law.”
ABC managing director David Anderson (pictured) told staff in an email that the national broadcaster preferrs “to break news rather than be the news.”
“As I flagged on 24 June, the ABC is challenging the legality of the raid and is seeking the return of all documents. The action will begin in the Federal Court in early August… We are disappointed that the fate of our journalists, Dan Oakes and Sam Clark, remains unclear.”
Anderson’s letter to Dutton requests “that any action against the pair of journalists cease… Failing that, that the ABC be briefed on when and how the AFP action will be resolved.”
News Corp has written a similar letter to Minister Dutton.
Peter Dutton has publicly rejected the request to cease action against the journalists, telling the Nine Network:
“If you’ve got top secret documents and they’ve been leaked, it is an offence under the law… Nobody is above the law and the police have a job to do under the law.
“I think it is up to the police to investigate, to do it independently, and make a decision whether or not they prosecute.”
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese backed the media organisations, saying it would be a “common sense outcome” for the investigations to be abandoned.
