BARNABY Joyce has defended journalists under fire for publishing secret documents, stating they were "just doing their job".
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Federal police are investigating journalists from the ABC and News Corp for their role in publishing confidential information.
The New England MP and former deputy prime minister said he was uncomfortable with the idea of prosecuting the journalists.
"I don't believe it's the crime of the journalist for doing their job, but I do believe whoever handed them that document knew exactly what they were doing," Mr Joyce said.
"They knew what they were doing was against the law. The sin resides with them."
Mr Joyce said most people would accept that the journalist were "just doing their job".
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"I don't see the journalist as the big fish in this one, they're the small fry," he said.
"My beef is with the person that handed the journalist the information, no so much with the journalist who is doing their job."
There are calls for the current laws to be reviewed and changed to protect journalists.
"I think that's something that should be under consideration," Mr Joyce said.
"Of course we need freedom of the press. We've got to balance that up with documents that are notated as secret.
"Some of these documents are so sensitives lives can be lost if they are published."
The heads of ABC and News Corp have written to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, asking for the legal action against their journalists to be dropped.
However, Mr Dutton has rejected the request, saying "nobody is above the law".
"If you've got top secret documents and they've been leaked, it is an offence under the law," Mr Dutton said.