People 'harmed' by select leaking of Sofronoff report; government brings forward release timeline

Chief Minister Andrew Barr had earlier said he was confident the Sofronoff report wouldn’t be leaked. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.

The ACT Government will release the Sofronoff Inquiry report sometime next week, bringing forward the date it planned to make the findings public.

Calls have grown louder throughout the day (3 August) for the government to sack Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC in the wake of the report’s premature release, which apparently contained damning findings against him, as well as for the Territory to release the report in full immediately.

A spokesperson from Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s office stated the government was “disappointed” the report had been released to “select media outlets”.

“The release of information about the Inquiry outside of the government procedures has affected the Inquiry process and harmed people involved,” they said.

“It further contributes to the ongoing public discussion of the matter that has been very difficult for all of the individuals impacted.”

The Australian and the ABC have both received copies or seen the report.

The spokesperson said they were “confident” the report was not leaked to media from anyone inside the government, neither in its draft or final form.

“The Government has sought advice from the Board of Inquiry, which has confirmed it provided a copy to some media outlets under an embargo,” they said.

“This release was not authorised by or communicated to Government prior to this release.”

Cabinet has been considering the report since it received it on Monday (31 July).

The spokesperson said the Attorney-General had been in touch with the DPP in relation to the findings regarding his conduct during the case against Bruce Lehrmann.

“The individuals identified in the Report and affected by its findings must be afforded procedural fairness, including the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP),” they said.

“The ACT Government is preparing to release the report formally along with the Government’s interim response to the recommendations early next week.”