The whistleblower who exposed a lewd act at Parliament House in March has been the subject of two new police search warrants - one in Canberra and another in Mackay, in Queensland - in what his lawyer has described as "victimisation".
Mark Davis, the lawyer for the whistleblower, said he was disturbed by the actions of the Australian Federal Police officers "as police are coming for him [the whistleblower] and not for the perpetrators".
The warrants relate to an incident in March in which a Liberal staffer masturbated on the desk of a female MP at Parliament House, filmed himself doing it on a mobile phone, and then shared the video with others, including the whistleblower.
The video, which was first shown on Channel Ten, sparked a furore over widespread inappropriate and depraved behaviour within Parliament House.
The man who performed the act was sacked but detectives within ACT police, and a dedicated team within the federal police, continue to work on the case.
"This feels like little more than victimisation of a man who did the right thing," Mr Davis said.
"He revealed disgusting behaviour in our national Parliament against a female MP and others.
"And now police are coming for him."
Police only released a brief statement on Saturday which would only confirm "search warrant activity was conducted last week in Mackay and Canberra as part of an ongoing investigation".
"No arrests were made," the statement said.
"This relates to alleged unauthorised sharing of intimate images".
The warrant was executed under section 72C of the Crimes Act 1900 whereby "the offenderknows the other person does not consent to the distribution; or is reckless about whether the other person consents to the distribution". It is commonly referred to as the "revenge porn" clause.
"There is a very disturbing tone to these warrants," Mr Davis said.
"Once again there appears to be an investigation into individual journalists doing their job in the public interest".
