Documents seized during controversial police raids seeking material leaked from NBN Co will be withheld from the police investigation and will not be allowed to be used “in any prosecution or other legal proceedings”, after a ruling by federal parliament’s powerful privileges committee.
The committee’s report, tabled on Tuesday, follows a decision by the former Labor senator Stephen Conroy to make a claim of parliamentary privilege over the material seized by Australian federal police during raids carried out in Melbourne during the federal election campaign, and at Parliament House in Canberra.
The privileges committee upheld Conroy’s claim, determining that the documents seized by the AFP had a demonstrated connection to the Labor senator’s parliamentary business.
The committee also made a finding that the execution of the Melbourne warrants may have had the effect of interfering with the duties of a senator, and with the functions of the parliament more broadly. Tuesday’s night’s ruling means the seized documents will be withheld from the AFP investigation into the NBN Co leaks and returned to Conroy.
A string of leaks from NBN Co during the last parliamentary term caused substantial embarrassment to the government, and to the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, a former communications minister.
In tabling the privileges committee report, the Labor Senator Jacinta Collins told the chamber the committee had noted “that information which ought to have been protected may have been used to the detriment of a person with a connection to parliamentary proceedings”.
The report notes that information discovered at the site of one of the warrants may have assisted in identifying one NBN employee for investigation over the leaks – but it notes there was “conjecture as to the extent to which that material may have been used”.
Collins said the privileges committee had determined it would make a finding that an “improper interference” had occurred as a consequence of the police raids.
“As I have noted, the committee recommends that the claim of privilege over the documents be upheld, because of their demonstrated connection to parliamentary business,” Collins told the chamber on Tuesday night.
“In finding that an improper interference has occurred, the committee has concluded that the seized material also warrants protection on those grounds.
“One of the effects of the recommendation that the claim of privilege be upheld is that the subject material would be withheld from the investigation and, therefore, incapable of being used in any prosecution or other legal proceedings, thereby limiting the detriment to any persons involved.”
The privileges committee stopped short of making a finding of contempt in relation to the case on the basis that the seized documentation would not be used in the police investigation.
A spokesman for NBN Co said it was glad the Senate process is now closed.
“We take seriously any potential crime or breach of employee code of conduct, such as the theft of company materials, and will continue to take a zero tolerance approach in the best interests of the company, its shareholders, and the Australian taxpayers,” he said.
“Importantly, in relation to the raids, our staff followed the direction of the AFP at all times. We acknowledge the Committee has conducted an investigation and arrived at a decision ... Any ongoing investigation is a matter for the AFP.”
The raids were triggered by NBN Co referring the leaks to the AFP for investigation.
