Government agrees to recommendations to strengthen press freedom but union says more changes needed

Search warrants against journalists and whistleblowers will have to be signed off by senior judges, under changes the Federal Government argues will strengthen press freedom in Australia.

Federal Parliament’s joint committee on intelligence and security (PJCIS) made a range of recommendations earlier this year, amid concerns protections for the media and informants had been eroded in the continuous quest to strengthen national security.

Then News Corp political journalist Annika Smethurst’s home was…