Australian police raid opposition Labor Party’s offices amid government leak probe

Australian Federal Police investigating the alleged leak of government documents raided offices of the main opposition Labor Party, triggering a political furor in the second week of the election ­campaign.

Labor said the searches conducted overnight in Melbourne were unprecedented during an election and demanded Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government reveal what it knew of the police operation. The government denied any prior knowledge of the raids and said Labor was trying to politicise the issue.

Officers searched two premises amid an investigation “concerning allegations of the unauthorised disclosure of Commonwealth information,” the police said in a statement. The probe was launched following a complaint by the state-owned National Broadband Network Co, which is building a multibillion-dollar fibre optic network.

Labor leader Bill Shorten told reporters the events related to Turnbull’s time in charge of the NBN as communications minister and the “cost blowouts and delays” afflicting the project.

Labor officials including transport spokesman Anthony Albanese took to the airwaves questioning the timing of the raids during an election campaign, and noting government offices hadn’t been searched by police following recent leaks of Cabinet decisions.

Turnbull said the issue was entirely a matter for the police.