Australia investigates sale of secret papers

CANBERRA: The Australian government launched an urgent investigation into the loss of thousands of classified documents that were sold with two second-hand filing cabinets.

The cabinets were sold by a furniture shop at a discount price because they were locked and no one could find keys, Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.

The ABC has not identified the buyer who removed the locks with a drill and found thousands of Cabinet documents spanning more than a decade and four former prime ministers, the most recent being Tony Abbott.

Several businesses trade in what is described as ex-government furniture in Canberra.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet yesterday said the department boss initiated an urgent investigation into the disposal of the filing cabinets.

The ABC reported nearly all the documents are classified.

The classifications include “top secret,” “sensitive,” “Australian eyes only,” and “cabinet-in-confidence.”

The ABC has not said when the documents were found. But it has used them in recent weeks to report stories that have been embarrassing to the former administrations of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Abbott as well as a number of serving lawmakers.

The broadcaster said it had chosen not to report some documents on national security grounds.

The documents cover Australia’s intelligence priorities and counterterrorism planning.

They detail missile upgrades, profiles of suspected militants and Australia’s desire in 2010 for more Indonesian cooperation to stop asylum seekers reaching Australian shores in fishing boats, the ABC said.

One document refers to an audit that revealed that the Australian Federal Police had lost almost 400 national security files over five years ending 2013. — AP