The MEAA wants a blanket defence for journalists, who could still face 10 years’ jailThe media union has welcomed changes that water down the Coalition’s espionage bill but said it was still a “very serious concern” to working journalists and should be dealt with by a blanket defence. The offences are punishable by up to 15 years and five years in prison respectively for commonwealth officers such as public servants. The changes also give journalists a defence for the offence of dealing with protected information where they “reasonably believe” it is in the public interest to do so. Porter told Guardian Australia the defence applied to both offences because “dealing” with information included communication and publication, as well as other uses. Murphy said if that was the intention the bill should be amended so the defence was explicitly available for both.

Source: The Guardian March 06, 2018 03:04 UTC