CANBERRA, Australia — Police on Wednesday executed a search warrant on the home of an Australian intelligence officer in a raid that one media executive described as an attempt to intimidate people who talk to journalists.
The raid on an inner-Canberra house owned by Australian Signals Directorate official Cameron Gill came three months after police caused widespread anger by raiding the Canberra home of News Corp. journalist Annika Smethurst and Australian Broadcasting Corp.’s Sydney headquarters on consecutive days.
News Corp. Australia group executive for corporate affairs, policy and government relations Campbell Reid drew a link between Wednesday’s raid and the June 4 raid on Smethurst’s home.
Police were searching Wednesday for the source of Smethurst’s 2018 report that Defense Department and Home Affairs Department bosses had canvassed giving the Australian Signals Directorate new legal powers to spy on Australians.
Gill is the husband of Australian Ambassador to Iraq Joanne Loundes.