Labor’s shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, says because Conroy was sitting on a senate committee into the NBN, the documents are protected

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Australian federal police commissioner says his decision to raid the parliamentary office of the shadow minister for communications, Stephen Conroy, and the home of a Labor staffer on Thursday night was taken independently of government, but Labor insists the raid was extraordinary and it shouldn’t have happened in an election campaign.

Labor also says the documents seized by police overnight are covered by parliamentary privilege, because Conroy was sitting on a senate committee enquiring into the mismanagement of the National Broadband Network (NBN), so the AFP’s investigation will have to be on hold for some time anyway.

Andrew Colvin, AFP commissioner, said on Friday morning that the AFP’s investigation and raids had been undertaken independently of government, and he flatly rejected accusations of political interference.

“There has been no influence, no influence on the AFP in the conduct of this investigation,” Colvin said.

“In fact, the government first became aware of this investigation shortly after the commencement of the operational activity yesterday.”

He also said police could no longer access the documents that were seized overnight because parliamentary privilege had been claimed on them.

“As documents are sealed, the AFP does not have access to the documents. They will be lodged in the Senate and a process will be put into play by the parliament to determine if parliamentary privilege is afforded to those documents,” he said.

“[But] it is not necessarily the case that parliamentary privilege will be afforded to those documents.”

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The AFP warrant, seen by the Guardian Australia, shows officers were seeking documents or other material relating to the NBN which it believes were handed to Labor staffer Andrew Byrne from an “as yet unidentified commonwealth officer,” between 1 August 2014 and 27 February 2016.

The warrant names the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review, the Australian, and the ABC, as media outlets that have published stories containing leaked material.

The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said the AFP’s investigation raised serious questions because it was started at the behest of NBN Co, which is a government agency.

“What we need to know is, what did the PM or his ministers, or their staff, have to do with the commencement of this investigation and what do they know about that?” Dreyfus said.

“Has the PM or his ministers or their staff had conversations with executives of NBN Co, a Government agency I would stress again, about the conduct of this investigation and [have they] sought updates from NBN Co?”

He also said the investigation raised serious questions about whistleblower protection.

“It’s now become apparent that this search warrant process is directed not merely at opposition frontbenchers and their staff, but directed also at the media. It raises questions about not only the public’s right to know, but the right of the media to publish,” he said.

On Thursday night, the prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the raids were “entirely a matter for the AFP”.



“They operate entirely independent of government and the Labor Party knows that as well as I do,” Turnbull said.

But on Friday, Dreyfus said the raids were a very bad look for the government and the AFP, raising serious questions about political interference in federal police matters.

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“We’re in the second week of an eight-week election campaign, the police must know that,” Dreyfus said.

“They should have, I think, thought more and been more cautious about what the appearance of this might have been, because there are obvious political connotations. It is obviously something that is directed at a Labor shadow minister and a Labor staffer,” he said.



“At all times we need to make that the Australian Federal Police and all our agencies are absolutely independent of political interference ... we also need to be concerned about the “appearance” of police work,” he said.

The shadow finance minister, Penny Wong, said the issue of parliamentary privilege was “central” and “critical” to consideration of this matter.

“What does parliamentary privilege go to? It goes to ensuring a parliamentarian can do their job, can shine a light on the truth ... free from government interference with their work,” Wong said.

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“It is a critical part of our democracy and it is a protection which is applied under the Westminster system for a very long time.”

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said on Friday morning it was “quite extraordinary” that the AFP left one staffer’s home just half an hour earlier.

“What that means is that it has been quite an extraordinary raid, over an extensive period of time, in extraordinary circumstances during an election campaign,” he told the Nine Network.

Cabinet minister Christopher Pyne said the government found out about the raids after they began, and accused Labor of trying to politicise the AFP investigation.

The idea that the AFP would time its raid on Senator Conroy’s office and Labor staffers was “nothing short of loopy”, Pyne said.

“If you are suggesting that the government has organised raids by the AFP against the Labor party, that is an extraordinary allegation,” he said.

On Friday, the former Liberal party leader John Hewson said the Labor party would milk this event for all its worth because it would take the attention away from the embarrassing revelations about David Feeney’s negative gearing

In a statement on Thursday, the NBN Co confirmed it was assisting the AFP with an “ongoing investigation.”