Australian police raid public broadcaster amid media crackdown

This is a slippery slope, a free press is paramount to holding the government accountable. You only have to look at Japan to see what happens with no free press.

The government is embarrassed because marked secret documents get some sunlight, they were maked secrecy to stop them getting sunlight. I hope this travesty brings down the government and allows a press that can report on the truth. No matter how uncomfortable it is.

This particular media outlet (ABC) is a Government owned entity that is supposed to by law be unbiased in its reporting agenda but in reality it supports a socialist anti conservative policy.

Agree with BigYen

this is disgraceful

This is appalling.

Indeed a slippery slope.

This is what happens when the people lose control of their elected government. Citizens need to take control of their government and hold them to account. exactly the same as is happening with Wikileaks and Julian Assange. The beginnings of a Fascist State, deny freedom of speech and hide government crimes.

Without SBS and the ABC Australia wouldn't be the great country that it is.

Who would have thought pollies didn’t like hard-nosed, quality investigative journalism?

Grew up in San Francisco/ Oakland, California in the 60's and 70's. I learned as a young man that suppression is violent and that power will say and do anything to keep control. When change comes, real change. Well, as they say--

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

Australian police raided the headquarters of public broadcaster ABC on Wednesday

I wonder how many Australians are thinking twice now about letting the government take away their guns.

Imagine if this were Japan, the Philippines and China raiding their media?

CNN would be repeating the news every 15 minutes!

Well, hate speech laws followed by Assange, it all inevitably leads in this direction. All the police state needs to say is that they are for free speech, but want to stomp out hate speech and leaks of government secrets.

Then, conveniently, any speech that threatens their power is either revealing a state secret or hate speech.

This is what happens when people take their rights for granted.

When they came for assange, nothing was done, what in the world did all of you expect? The dry run was a success. Cry me a river!!!

Fizzbit:

Even citizens' assault rifles cannot stand against govt tanks, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles, fighter jets, nukes, etc that common folk cannot possess, even in gun-happy America. It's like a fly buzzing around a person.

(Cont'd) The best recourse is to ensure a govt by the people amd for the people (democracy). This means protests, supporting ACLU or other national civil liberties organization, not electing a party that does this, forcing opposition and backbenchers to call no confidence in govt (cant do that one in the US), and even direct democracy.

Australians recently elected a fascist government, I guess they get what they deserve.

Didn't they just win an election? Seems the government has gotten a little emboldened with its recent victory.

I'm interested to see if Australians will stand for this or not.

@Andy, quite an uniformed comment there, are you Australian by any chance?

I’d advise a few posters here to read up more on the story instead of this short excerpt.

In this instance the media appears to have used illegally obtained information - that’s the offence.

Zichi:

Media seems to focus on the leaker rather than what was leaked. Media even sided with the govt. Nobody seems to care anymore about holding military and leaders accountable...at least in the US.

AustPaul: "In this instance the media appears to have used illegally obtained information - that’s the offence."

No, the media stated what the Australian military actually did in Afghanistan: deliberately kill, murder civilians. The personnel involved, the Dept of Defence and the Minister of Defence should be held accountable; war crimes. Don't shoot the messenger, prosecute the crime. Accepting this is accepting a fascist state. We must hold the government to account and not allow this persecution/prosecution of the messenger.

Expect more actions like this from an emboldened Coalition.

Exactly this. This is what people voted for. Short memories. What did those voters expect.

Australia is being swamped by fascists...

rlperez@hotmail.com.au - This is what happens when the people lose control of their elected government. Citizens need to take control of their government and hold them to account.

Didn't the citizens of Australia elect this government? Aren't all Aussies required to vote? How many Aussies object to this action? How many know all the facts of these charges?

It now seems fashionable for those people who object to a current government, and object to their own inability to control that government, then begin to undermine that government by referring to everyone else as a fascist if they refuse to believe as the whiners do. I believe these whiners mean to say that it hurts their feelings when others reject the whiners self-determined high ideals.

zichi - Reveals brutal killings by the Aussie army. Sound like what Assange also revealed. People have to be accountable for their actions.

Accountability is why the alleged rapist, and bail-jumper, Assange is currently incarcerated.

"Australia believes strongly in the freedom of the press......", as long as the press doesn't exercise that right.

The ABC is supposed to be unbiased and in "the good old days" it was strictly so. However in recent times it has become influenced by cultural marxists , sex and gender recognition obsessives and identity politics fundamentalists. A far cry from what it was and while the intellectual professionals who inhabit the inner suburbs of the major cities may be pleased there are many in the country who are not.

I draw this shadenfreude feeling from this because while assange was being wreaked for doing the exact same thing, so many barely batted an eyelash. Marvel at what your inactivity resulted into. And guess what? This is only the beginning. I'm playing the world's tiniest violin tho. There's that.

arrestpaul: " How many know all the facts of these charges?"

This is exactly why we need journalist to tell us the facts, facts that our government hide. Why was this action not conducted prior to the general election? Was the government scared it would affect the result? Did they think that Dudhead Dutton would be voted out?

So, now journalists will not be able to expose politician's rorting and dishonesty, crimes.

Why did the Liberal government refuse to have an open Federal ICAC? The committee they have instigated will be in private, hidden from public scrutiny.

rlperez@hotmail.com.au - arrestpaul: " How many know all the facts of these charges?"

This is exactly why we need journalist to tell us the facts, facts that our government hide.

The facts of the "charges" would come from the government. The media outlets would/could/haven't provided their side of the story, but they still have a chance to do so.

The police position:

Australian Federal Police said the search was "in relation to allegations of publishing classified material, contrary to provisions of the Crimes Act 1914."

The media's position: 

The police are harassing us.

My question is whether, or not, these media outlets actually violated the Crimes Act 1914.