CANBERRA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The secretary of Australia's Department of Home Affairs complimented the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for raiding the home of a journalist.
Officers from the AFP in June entered the home of News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst investigating the publication of leaked government documents one year earlier.
In an email on the night of the raid, AFP Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan told staff that they had earned praise from Mike Pezzullo, secretary of the Department of Home Affairs.
"Good work by all involved," Guaghan wrote in the email, which was published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday.
"I also received a call this evening from (Pezzullo) who is fully supportive of the actions of the AFP and asked me to pass on thanks to the team involved.
"Well done -- tomorrow is another day."
The following day the AFP raided the headquarters of the ABC over a story published in July 2017.
Rex Patrick, a Senator from South Australia (SA), has questioned Pezzullo's judgment following the publication of the email.
"The contents of the released documents confirm a lack of judgment at the highest levels of Home Affairs where national strategy and security policy is set," Patrick told the ABC.
"After the raid on Ms Smethurst, alarm bells immediately started ringing for the media, the public, and indeed across the government."
"Yet the secretary of home affairs appears to have been blind to public concerns, expressing satisfaction with the raids."
The raids prompted outrage from Australian media companies who joined forces to call for the government to guarantee the freedom of the press.
In response, Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordered a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) inquiry into press freedom.
The committee has heard from Australia's intelligence agencies and media bosses and is expected to deliver its findings by Oct. 17.
