Following federal police raids at the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the ABC office in Sydney this week, Neil Mitchell says we should all be alarmed.

“I’ve been in this business for a long time. I’ve been interviewed by federal police. I’ve been threatened with legal action. I’ve been threatened with raids.

“That means I can explain to you the importance of what’s happening in this country at the moment,” the 3AW Mornings host said.

“The more money politicians waste, the more tax you’ve got to pay to feed them, which is why we need leaks to keep them honest.

“If you have federal police storming around, chasing leaks, sources won’t leak.

“Politicians then get away with their spin, their lies, their waste and their trickery,” he said.

“We’ll all suffer.”

The 3AW Mornings host gave several examples of leaks to his program which led outcomes in the public interest.

“Because of leaks we have twice revealed huge problems with Victoria’s speed cameras.

“In one case $26 million was repaid to you.

“That’s pretty important.

“If we hadn’t had had the leaks that wouldn’t have happened.

“Leaks to this program led to the Chief Commissioner, Simon Overland, resigning.

“Look at Fines Victoria – 350 people lost their licences because of a multi-million dollar stuff up.

“You reckon the government would have fixed that and told us if we hadn’t raised hell?”

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