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Media worried by new ASIO bill


The World Today - Thursday, 4 December , 2003  12:18:45

Reporter: Alison Caldwell

TONY EASTLEY: If the new ASIO laws had already been enacted, we may not have been able to bring that story to you. The new ASIO bill includes a possible five year jail sentence for anyone who discloses details of terrorism warrants issued to ASIO. That would apply to families and friends of the accused, the lawyer for the accused and, of course, us, the media.

Media organisations, including the ABC, have written to politicians expressing concern that the new bill could potentially put a stop to any media coverage of ASIO investigations of terrorism in Australia.

One media spokesman has described this aspect of the bill as sloppy, if not wilful. Media outlets say it's imperative that the Senate delay the passage of the bill.

The Federal Attorney-General has defended the bill, arguing that any publicity surrounding sensitive operational matters could threaten national security, as Alison Caldwell reports.

ALISON CALDWELL: The media is a competitive beast. More often, outlets work against each other to get the story. On the rare occasion when they work together, Australia's media organisations can become a powerful force.

But today, they may have met their match, with the Senate expected to vote on the new ASIO bill. It has bipartisan support.

Media organisations including the ABC, News Limited, the Australian Press Council, Commercial Radio Australia, SBS and Fairfax, all have signed a letter outlining their concerns about the new bill.

Bruce Wolpe is a spokesman for Fairfax, which publishes The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review.

BRUCE WOLPE: Ultimately it is the people who are sovereign. If the people are not informed, the people cannot exercise democracy. That's the issue.

ALISON CALDWELL: Media organisations say the bill includes a substantial jail sentence for reporting details of terrorism warrants issued to ASIO.

Bruce Wolpe says that has the potential to gag the media from reporting the spy agency's terrorism related activities.

BRUCE WOLPE: You could be jailed for five years for reporting that someone has been, that someone is a subject of a warrant or detention under this legislation and you also could be jailed for five years for reporting that two years after the fact.

So you have a gag order on a fundamental criminal process under the terrorism laws, which is incompatible with the principles of a free society. If the media can't report on the criminal justice system then we really run the risk of being in a land of secret trials, secret justice without accountability.

It's a very dangerous precedent.

There has not been time for any outside lawyers or people affected by this legislation to examine it, study it, challenge it.

ALISON CALDWELL: The Federal Government wants the legislation enacted as soon as possible. The Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says the priority here is Australia's national security.

PHILIP RUDDOCK: You wouldn't want a situation to be on your hands where an activity which was going to take the lives of Australians and which we might have been able to find out about was compromised because you simply wanted to get a good story.

ALISON CALDWELL: The new bill makes it an offence to disclose so called "operational information" for up to two years.

The media is concerned that the definition of operational information is too broad.

BRUCE WOLPE: As we read the bill, "operational information" is defined as being any information that ASIO has or had and if we report anything based on information that ASIO has or had you can go to jail for five years and that, that scares the hell out of us.

PHILIP RUDDOCK: Well the operational information flows from the issuing of a questioning warrant.

ALISON CALDWELL: What about, let's take this case, recently the media reported on ASIO's warrants that were issued in Sydney, in relation to Willie Brigitte and people he may have known.

Under this bill, could those reporters face five years jail for doing their job and reporting the fact that warrants were issued and people were questioned?

PHILIP RUDDOCK: Well, people are going to have to make a judgement about that.

ALISON CALDWELL: Well what do you think?

PHILIP RUDDOCK: Well, I just make this point that the seriousness of these issues that we are looking at are such that the operations of the security organisations, in my view, should not be hampered in any way by the disclosure of information.

ALISON CALDWELL: It sounds like you're saying that ASIO is above public scrutiny.

PHILIP RUDDOCK: No, I'm saying ASIO has a very special role to play and I think we need to ensure that it has all the tools to enable it to deal with those issues.

BRUCE WOLPE: The publication of someone's name can bring forward people who know the individual and actually assist law enforcement authorities. So to have an iron tight gag rule on the media may in fact not protect Australia's security more.

It's a flawed process here. This is being railroaded. It's not right.

TONY EASTLEY: Fairfax Spokesman Bruce Wolpe, ending Alison Caldwell's report.