Media companies have used the prime minister’s call against giving politicians the final approval to prosecute journalists - which is at odds with the current system - to push for a stronger free press.
In parliament on Monday, prime minister Scott Morrison said the decision to prosecute journalists shouldn’t be made on the “whim” of politicians. This is in contrast to the current system which gives the Attorney General Christian Porter the final say.
Media outlets calling for a stronger free press, including News Corp Australia, Nine, Ten and Seven West Media, have urged members of parliament to make changes in a letter using Morrison’s words.
“The Prime Minister told parliament this week Austalians wouldn't want to live in a country where politicians on a him decide who gets prosecuted and who doesn’t. We couldn’t agree more,” the letter signed by the media coalition reads.
“And yet we do live in that country. The Attorney General - a politician - has the power to decide if journalists will be prosecuted.”
The news media outlets have been mounting a public push to pressure the government into providing better protection for whistleblowers and journalists, following raids on ABC and News Corp staff.
Earlier this week, it launched its Your Right to Know campaign to raise public awareness with a TV ad and redacting front pages of newspapers nationwide.
“We are not seeking anything like the ‘blanket exemption’ that some have claimed,” the letter continued.
“We are asking for common sense changes to laws so that, like politicians, the unique role journalists have in serving society is acknowledged.”
The group outlined six demands they are seeking from lawmakers in the letter. These are; the right to contest the application for warrants for journalists and media organisations; exemption for journalists from laws that would put them in jail for doing their jobs; adequate protection for public sector whistle-blowers; a new regime limiting documents that can be stamped secret; a properly functioning freedom of information regime; and defamation law reform.
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