Australian police yesterday raided the offices of the national broadcaster over allegations that it had published classified material, the second raid on a media outlet in two days, prompting complaints of assaults on press freedom.
Officers carried out a search warrant at the Sydney headquarters of the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) in Sydney, the Australian Federal Police said.
Police raided the home of a News Corp editor on Tuesday, although they said the raids were unrelated.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The ABC said that the raid was over its 2017 reports about alleged misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan, while News Corp said that the raid at the editor’s home was related to a report last year about plans for surveillance of Australians’ e-mails, text messages and bank records.
“It is highly unusual for the national broadcaster to be raided in this way,” ABC managing director David Anderson said in a statement. “This is a serious development and raises legitimate concerns over freedom of the press, and proper public scrutiny of national security and defense matters.”
News Corp said the raid was “outrageous and heavy handed,” and “a dangerous act of intimidation.”
Police questioning of journalists is not new, but raids on two influential news organizations sparked warnings that national security was being used to justify curbs on whistle-blowing and reporting that might embarrass the government.
“There are insufficient safeguards to prevent law enforcement agencies from using these powers to expose journalists’ confidential sources,” Human Rights Law Centre legal director Emily Howie said.
The raids came barely two weeks after Australia’s conservative government won a May 18 election that it was widely expected to lose, and which almost cost Australian Minister of Home Affairs Peter Dutton his seat.
The home affairs minister must authorize raids considered politically sensitive, according to guidelines on the police Web site.
Dutton denied involvement in the police investigations and said that his office was notified after the raids were carried out.
Both raids “relate to separate allegations of publishing classified material ... which is an extremely serious matter that has the potential to undermine Australia’s national security,” police said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary