Face of Nation : Foreign Minister Marise Payne has defended her presence at a global press freedom conference, saying the government would be criticised if she did not attend.
The foreign minister is attending the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London on Wednesday with her international counterparts, journalists and civil groups.
Senator Payne will not address the conference but her visit comes amid concerns about Australian Federal Police raids on the ABC’s headquarters and a News Corp journalist’s home.
The raids were over separate stories based on leaked government information.
Labor accused Senator Payne of hypocrisy, with a statement from senators Penny Wong and Kristina Keneally saying the minister needs to show her commitment by taking action back in Australia.
Senator Payne denied she was being hypocritical by attending the conference.
“I would imagine that if Australia was not represented at a conference like today, then you would say that the government wasn’t doing their job by being here,” she told reporters in London on Wednesday.
“So I suspect you would advance a position where a government was in a no-win situation.”
The foreign minister said the government wanted to continue having an open relationship with media organisations so it could hear their concerns directly.
A parliamentary review of press freedom is under way, which Senator Payne said was looking at the balance between protecting the media and national security.
“It is a very fine balance and I think that we’ve seen changes in national security legislation, if we are comprehensive in the way we look at it, since September 11, over many, many years now,” she said.
“In some of those changes in legislation, specific provision has been made for the protection of media and journalists; in others, it has been done in a different way.
“So this is a timely review, where concerns that have been raised, are concerns raised very genuinely on the part of media organisations, and the government has been been clear in saying we appreciate that.”
The raid on News Corp political editor Annika Smethurst’s home was prompted by a story about a government plan to spy on Australians.
It was revealed this week that the AFP requested ABC reporter Dan Oakes’ private travel records from Qantas over his story about alleged misconduct by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
The development appeared to suggest police could be building a case against the reporter, in addition to the whistleblower who has already admitted leaking the information.
It was also revealed the AFP accessed the metadata of journalists 58 times in one year.
