It wasn't actually that surprising that the authorities went in like they did - the government and defence force across the Tasman have been frothing at a number of embarrassing leaks and disclosures that have been reported on in recent years, and have made no secret that they'd be keen to go in and find out how these scumbag journos found out about the information. Because, as always, the State is more ashamed that they got found out for doing dodgy shit, rather than any shame they feel over the actual dodgy shit.
One thing that was fairly surprising was the amount of power that the cops had when they stormed the newsroom. They had the paperwork that said they could delete and make copies of files, even if they lacked the moral authority. In the wake of their action, those lovely motherfuckers at the Australian Federal Police have not ruled out the possibility of charging individual reporters and editors, and have dropped extremely unsubtle threats of further raids.
Everything about the raids made it clear that this was not just a search for information, but a sign of unmistakable intimidation. They wanted to show the fourth estate that they could have the full weight of the law thump down on them, just for doing their goddamn jobs.
Unfortunately, another unsurprising factor was that this is all going down now, even though the stories that sparked the action were published years ago, and that reeks of political interference in the democratic process of those in power being held to account
Our Australian cousins have just had an election, and the national government is looking a stable as it gets right now (which, considering the past few years, isn't very fucking stable at all), and it's just the right time to suddenly take action that could be seen as heavy handed and petty to people considering who they will vote for.
It's highly unlikely that the Aussie PM turned around after the election and personally decided to target the media, (although not impossible), but somebody in the vast apparatus of government below him thought it was a good idea, and has kicked the whole thing off.
This is nothing short of bullying, and is mind-numbingly stupid bullying, because whatever information they get, and whatever damage they inflict on media groups with the blunt, moronic action, it is going to backfire right in their fucking faces.
Because journos love holding people in power to account, and when that power of the state is used to crack down on them, they don’t buckle, they just go harder.
And it's not just the ABC, and not just Australian journos, it fucks off everyone. There have been extremely public notes of support from other newsrooms around the world, including New Zealand, and nobody likes to see this kind of bully-boy bullshit.
This kind of action is far, far more inspiring than intimidating, because if you have a crackdown like this, you must be doing something right, and must be exposing things that powerful people do not want exposed. Bring it on.
It’s unlikely the cockwombles who authorised and carried out last week’s thuggish raids ever considered this, as their metaphorical jackboots come down on the news media. Thugs never think of shit like this, because they're too fucking stupid, and that's why they'll lose.
- Margaret Tempest
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