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Australian Federal Police raid former comms minister's office

National Broadband Network documents apparently sought as Feds probe leaks

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has searched the offices of Senator Stephen Conroy, the former Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus has issued a statement about the “raid” on Conroy's office.

Conroy has been a vocal critic of the decision to change Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) from the universal fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) plan he implemented to the current government's multi-technology-mix (MTM).

As a member of the Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network, Conroy has made sometimes-strident comments regarding the MTM and the carriage of the MTM.

The Register understands the raids were conducted in order to investigate the source of leaks about the state of the NBN.

The timing of the searches is controversial, as Australia is currently in the second week of an eight-week election campaign.

The mere hint of possible criminal actions conducted by senior opposition figures will sway some voters. But this may cut both ways: as The Register has previously observed, the NBN's managers don't sound entirely convincing when they say the project is completely on track and hitting all targets. If Labor can prove otherwise, it will prove very embarrassing for the government. ®

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