The AFP began the investigation on 9 December after months of damaging leaks from within NBN Co that exposed cost blowouts and delays in the rollout of the network, over which Turnbull had carriage as communications minister until September 2015.
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Shadow Communications Minister Jason Clare also implied that the government had been involved in NBN referring the matter to the AFP, because the leaks showed that Turnbull’s NBN policy had been a failure.
“While they’re about it, prime minister, ministers, should answer questions as to why this particular set of leaks as distinct from the 20 or so leaks about national security matters, which have not been the subject of any police raids, have not even been the subject of any police investigations in some cases, of why this matter concerning the NBN Co and Mr Turnbull’s mismanagement has been given such treatment”.
“Shortly after that, I spoke to the Opposition Leader as a matter of courtesy to advise him that the AFP was conducting operational activity”.
The warrants reportedly made reference to the ABC, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald.
“There’s no doubt the leaks that came from the NBN caused vast damage to Malcolm Turnbull when they showed that the cost blowout of the NBN, the fact that it was slower, the fact that it was going to be delayed”, Mr Burke said.
He said Mr Turnbull and Mr Shorten’s offices, as well as Sen Conroy’s office, were notified after the raids began on Thursday, and that ministerial offices had no knowledge of the investigation before that time.
WHILE the polls suggest the election is too close to call, Malcolm Turnbull has enormous advantages over the Labor Party.
As he rounded out two weeks on the campaign road, Mr Turnbull tried to field questions from journalists about other topics but was plagued by queries about who knew what and when. As communications minister, Turnbull was responsible for the decision to make the NBN operate through fibre-to-the-node, with the final stage of upgraded Internet services to be delivered by copper wire.
Fifield today revealed he had been advised by NBN senior management late previous year that the government-owned enterprise had referred the matter to the AFP after an internal investigation failed to identify the source of the leaks.
AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin on Friday denied the raids were the product of any undue influence, saying “always acts independently and acts within the law”.
While the government has adopted an attitude of “plausible denial”, the political context of the raids is highly significant.
The raids took place overnight, catching both the Labor Party and the Government by surprise.
More details of the AFP raids may emerge in the coming days, possibly revealing the extent of government involvement.
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The photos have been deleted and can not be retrieved, the letter said. The commissioner concluded his statement by promising to investigate allegations that some members of the media had been tipped off about the raids.
