Coalition demands AFP look at leaked melon gaffe correspondence

Australia's federal opposition has urged the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to investigate an alleged leak of correspondence concerning the prime minister's recent "melon gaffe." The opposition suspects the government may have orchestrated the leak to protect Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Reports indicate that at least two Australian media outlets published details on Monday evening about a note from a Japanese official to Australian counterparts. This correspondence reportedly stated that Tokyo would not lodge a complaint regarding the podcast exchange and described media coverage of the incident as "sensationalised."

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It is critically important that Australia's bilateral partners believe that their confidential correspondence will be handled appropriately by the Australian government… it would be gravely damaging to our national interest if they formed the view the Australian government does not take unauthorised disclosure seriously by promptly investigating it.

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Ted O'Brien and Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson wrote to the AFP, expressing concern that "a diplomatic note with a critical bilateral partner has potentially been provided to the media without authorisation." They highlighted that unauthorized disclosure of classified government communications could be a criminal offense.

"It is critically important that Australia's bilateral partners believe that their confidential correspondence will be handled appropriately by the Australian government," the ministers wrote. They warned that failing to promptly investigate such disclosures could severely damage Australia's national interest and its partners' confidence in the government's handling of confidential information.

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Given that communications between governments can be classified, it is possible that this disclosure is a criminal offence.