Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has attacked the integrity of a crossbench Senator over press freedom comments he made in the wake of two AFP raids on a NewsCorp journalist and the ABC.
On Tuesday, Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick accused the head of the Home Affairs Department, Mike Pezzullo, of trying to intimidate him by calling him directly to complain about his comments on the raids.
Mr Dutton acknowledges the phone call was inappropriate, but says Senator Patrick’s comments were inaccurate and a deliberate misrepresentation of Mr Pezzullo’s words.