Mr Abbott rejected the idea at a media conference in Canberra. Tony Abbott, we learn, was pumping out metadata when he was a journalist years before journalists used the internet. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "A contested warrant is more like a court case and if you had to have a court case to access metadata, well, the whole process would absolutely gum up," he said. And he pointed to his own experience as a journalist in the 1980s as an example for modern reporters. "Well in the days when I was a journalist there were no metadata protections for journalists," he said.

Mr Abbott said local councils and the RSPCA were able to access metadata with a mere authorisation and the protections being offered to the media are the strongest yet. One of Mr Abbott's articles in The Bulletin from the 1980s. Credit:Orietta Guerrera "I was perfectly comfortable as a journalist, I believe that Australian police and security agencies operate in a fair and reasonable and responsible manner," the Prime Minister said. The Australian Federal Police said this week they had received 13 referrals relating to unauthorised leaks of Commonwealth information but described as "rare" requests to access journalists metadata. The government is yet to reveal its amendment even though the laws are currently being debated in the House of Representatives.

After demanding the extra protections, Labor has agreed to the change "subject to the wording of the amendment". Independent senator Nick Xenophon is drafting his own amendment to the laws aimed at giving news organisations the ability to contest an warrant application. He told Fairfax Media Mr Abbott's attempt to reassure modern journalists exposed the Prime Minister's views as behind the times. "The PM is so last century on this one," Senator Xenophon said. "I can't remember what sort of a journalist Tony Abbott was but I do know that investigative journalists that I speak to are worried sick about these laws and the chilling effect it will have on free speech," he said.

The journalists' union wants the laws scrapped altogether but as a second best option says it wants the media exempted from having their metadata accessed because confidentiality of sources is central to a free press. But Attorney-General George Brandis has rejected the notion saying journalists are not above the law. Senator Brandis argues the extra protection is unnecessary and says he is only doing it to address "red herrings" thrown up by Labor and the Greens. The government believes it had a "handshake deal" with Labor Leader Bill Shorten to pass the final set of counter-terror laws that Mr Shorten has walked away from. Follow us on Twitter