Explainer: What are the media companies’ challenges to the AFP raids about?
The ABC and News Corp are both going to court over this month’s AFP raids on its offices and the home of Annika Smethurst, respectively. Rebecca Ananian-Welsh explains the law behind these challenges, in this crossposting from The Conversation.
In the first week of June, the AFP raided the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the ABC’s Sydney headquarters. The raids concerned stories published over a year earlier, based on documents leaked from the Department of Defence. This week, the ABC and News Corp launched separate legal challenges to those raids. As David Anderson explained, the ABC is challenging the warrant “on several technical grounds that underline the fundamental importance of investigative journalism and protection of confidential sources”.
The ABC commenced proceedings in the federal court, whereas News Corp took its challenge directly to the High Court. Nonetheless, both cases will raise similar legal issues, with press freedom at the heart of each challenge.
