Attorney-General backs Cash over AWU probe

Attorney-General Christian Porter says federal police didn't ask ministers Michaelia Cash and Michael Keenan for more evidence about union raid leaks.

Australia's top law officer is confident his ministerial colleagues cooperated fully with federal police during an investigation into leaks about raids on union offices.

Camera crews and journalists beat the police to the October 2017 raids on Australian Workers' Union headquarters after staff from ex-employment minister Michaelia Cash and former justice minister Michael Keenan's offices tipped off the media.

Australian Federal Police officers told a Senate committee hearing this week they had twice asked for witness statements from the ministers but received letters instead.

Attorney-General Christian Porter said he had seen the AFP's response to Senator Cash and Mr Keenan.

"If anything, there is a little bit of a conflict between the written letter from the AFP and what was said in estimates," Mr Porter told the ABC on Thursday.

"The correspondence back from the AFP thanked him from his statement. They said they would contact him if they required further information and then didn't recontact him."

He said the ministers were not compelled to be interviewed by police.

"It's the right of every single individual Australian to provide information to police in the way that they see fit."

Senator Cash's response, which she insists amounted to a witness statement, directed police to her answers in Senate estimates in October 2017.

But AFP deputy commissioner Leanne Close did not classify it as a witness statement, saying police wanted to speak to both ministers.

"They did what the AFP asked of them, which is they provided a statement," Mr Porter said.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world