Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese have squared off over the police media raids controversy, with the Labor Party leader accusing Dutton of trying to avoid media scrutiny under every portfolio he has held.
Speaking on Channel 9’s ‘The Today Show‘, Dutton insisted the actions from the Australian Federal Police – which resulted in the raiding of a News Corp journalist’s home and the Sydney offices of the ABC – were all above board.
“I’m targeting you buddy, you’re the government.” @AlboMP denies he is blaming the AFP for raids on the media, putting the onus on the government and @PeterDuttonMP. #9Today pic.twitter.com/wvIJIbpPd1
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) June 6, 2019
“The referral has been made by the secretary of the defence department,” said Dutton.
“The federal police have an obligation to investigate that matter if it’s been referred to them. And they’ve got equally an obligation under law to conduct their inquiries independently.”
Dutton insisted police were merely enforcing laws that had already existed when Labor was last in office.
But Albanese was quick to disagree with Dutton, telling the Queenslander he was “I’m onto you.”
“You’re the government, and it is outrageous,” he said.
Albanese rejected Dutton’s accusations that he had been criticising police.
“Do the public have a right to know if it is being considered that the government are engaged in a debate to increase spying powers against Australian citizens?” he asked.
“What we need to do is have a mature debate about the role of the media in our society and their capacity to actually provide appropriate scrutiny of government and of opposition.”
In a press conference yesterday, the AFP did not rule out laying charges following the raids and left open the possibility that more raids could follow. Labor has already declared it is considering pushing for a Senate inquiry into the raids.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has tried his best to not speak too heavily on all of this, has said he’s open to a review of the legislation that allows these sorts of AFP searches.
