“The night before the budget government staffers were handing out cabinet in confidence documents around the press gallery”.
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Conroy has been a vocal critic of the decision to change Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) from the universal fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) plan he implemented to the current government’s multi-technology-mix (MTM).
On Thursday night members of the AFP raided the office of Labor senator and former Labor Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, as well as the homes of two staffer of Shadow Communications Minister Jason Clare, according to multiple reports.
The AFP confirmed police were conducting operational activities in the area but did not provide specific details.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has conducted raids on the Melbourne Labor Party offices as part of an investigation into the leaking of confidential National Broadband Network (NBN) documents. “I don’t know how many times they’ve been referred to the AFP”. I know how many of those inquiries have resulted in police raids.
“There was a massive blow out in costs of billions and billions of dollars and of course huge delays to the delivery and the rollout of the NBN”, said Mr Shorten.
But shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said the raids were “unprecedented” – especially during an election campaign.
“The AFP is an entirely independent organisation that makes their own judgements on these things”, he said.
As reported by iTWire in December a year ago, an NBN cost scandal erupted with a new document revealing that copper for the Turnbull Government’s hybrid MTM broadband network was going to cost ten times as much as the original estimate.
“We’ll have more to say in coming days”.
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Mr Shorten said he was aware of the “extraordinary development” which he said related to Malcolm Turnbull’s time as communications minister. “The Labor Party know that as well as you and I do”, the prime minister said.
