The revelation came to light during a meeting between AFP Commander Paul Osborne and lawyer Paul Galbally on Friday. The NBN employee - who participated in the raid at the office of former communications minister Stephen Conroy as a "constable assisting" - later deleted all 32 photos from his phone and it is believed they cannot be retrieved. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Friday Credit:Andrew Meares These documents were supposed to be held under seal by the Clerk of the Senate because Senator Conroy is claiming they are protected by parliamentary privilege. "During our meeting I was advised by you that [the NBN officer] disseminated images of documents obtained in the execution of the warrant to NBN Co Limited in circumstances where a claim of parliamentary privilege had been made to NBN Co Limited," Mr Galbally said in a letter to Commander Osborne, obtained by Fairfax Media. "This act was wrong and, amongst other things, clearly had the potential to undermine my clients' claim for privilege."

Labor is demanding to know why the NBN employee was allowed to disseminate the photos and under whose authority. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Friday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin had earlier said it was normal operational procedure for the NBN officer to be at the raids. "Those people do not search," he said. Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus (right) and Labor's communications spokesman Jason Clare after the AFP raids on Labor offices on Thursday night. Credit:Steven Siewert

"What they are there for is to be shown documents we believe might be relevant and provide expertise as to the authenticity and origin of those documents. "I know my officers operate professionally in all cases." The AFP raid on a Labor staffer's house in Melbourne during the election. Credit:Nick Toscano A spokesperson for the AFP said that the NBN Co staffer was "under the direction of AFP officers at all times during the search warrant" but did not say why the staffer was allowed to send the pictures to colleagues. But Fairfax Media understands the NBN Co has agreed to delete all material it received.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus initially questioned the AFP's decision to launch the raids during an election campaign, saying it should have been "more cautious" given the political connotations involved. Mr Shorten later said he accepted the AFP's insistence the police had acted with complete independence from government. "The integrity of the AFP is not the issue here at all," Mr Shorten said. "But let us not fall for the idea that somehow the NBN Co is operating in this marvellous universe independent of the government. "We know that these revelations have shown massive NBN cost blowouts and unacceptable delays for millions of Australians.

"This is about the right of the public to know the truth." The AFP on Thursday night executed search warrants at the Treasury Place office of Senator Conroy and the Brunswick home of Labor staffer Andrew Byrne. The search at Mr Byrne's house lasted until around 5am on Friday. The warrant states police believe a Commonwealth officer leaked NBN documents to Mr Byrne between August and February. The warrant said police were seeking documents relating to The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, The Australian and technology website Delimiter. These outlets have published a series of damaging stories, based on internal NBN documents marked "commercial in confidence", about the the poor state of the cable TV and broadband network it purchased from Optus and of the copper network purchased from Telstra. Senator Conroy has claimed the documents are covered by parliamentary privilege, meaning they will be sealed until after the election if the Senate approves their release.

A spokesman for the NBN said: "Our staff have followed and complied with instructions from the AFP at all times. "NBN has been assisting the Australian Federal Police with an investigation into the ongoing theft of intellectual property after reporting the matter in December 2015." Mr Turnbull, who was campaigning in Launceston, said: "The first I heard of the AFP investigation was [on Thursday] when I was advised by the Justice Minister shortly after he'd been advised by the Commissioner. "We are dealing here with a matter of law enforcement, we're dealing here with a matter of the Australian Federal Police. "NBN Co made a referral of a matter of concern, of illegal leaking of confidential commercial information."

Mr Turnbull said Labor had sought to attack the integrity of the AFP. "Labor should be ashamed of themselves," he said. Mr Colvin said: "The timing is completely determined by the AFP, it's determined by the status and progress of the investigation, not by any external factors and not by any government influence." He said the AFP believed the leaking that sparked the investigation had been "ongoing" and that this had influenced the timing of the raids. Mr Colvin rejected claims the AFP had been selective in taking action on leaks from NBN, rather than leaks from inside the Turnbull government's national security committee of cabinet.

Mr Turnbull said in March the AFP would investigate the leaking of sections of a draft Defence white paper that formed the basis of a newspaper story in which former prime minister Tony Abbott was quoted. A spokesman for Mr Abbott said on Friday he had not been interviewed by the AFP, nor approached regarding that leak investigation. A spokeswoman for former Defence Minister Kevin Andrews declined to say whether the former minister had been interviewed. "It is understood from media reports there is an investigation, which is a matter for the AFP," the spokesman said. A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Mitch Fifield did not answer questions about whether he knew about the investigation before Thursday.

Government sources pointed out that the Rudd government made 32 referrals to the AFP over leaks in its first three years in office. In 2011 Senator Conroy called in police to investigate leaks detailing how an independent tender panel had favoured Sky News over the ABC to run Australia's international broadcasting service. Follow us on Twitter