Police decide against charging Australian journalist

Australian police announced on Wednesday they had decided against charging a journalist over a newspaper article she wrote more than two years ago following a high-profile investigation that triggered a national storm over press freedom.

Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said he had decided that no one would be charged following an investigation that spanned 25 months because of a lack of evidence.

Annika Smethurst's article citing "top secret letters" between the heads of the Defense and Home Affairs Department reported plans to create new espionage powers that would allow an intelligence agency to spy on Australian citizens for the first time.

It was published in News Corp. Australian Sunday papers on April 29, 2018.

Australian Federal Police responded with raids on Smethurst's Canberra home in June last year with warrants to search her computer, phone and home contents.

The next day, police raided Australian Broadcasting Corp.'s Sydney headquarters over an unrelated leaked government document.

The raids brought rival Australian media organizations together to demand more press freedom and guarantees that reporters would not risk jail over public interest journalism.