Canberra’s leaky pipes beg the question: Is it illegal to release text messages?

Parliament has not yet resumed but explosive accusations have already flown in Canberra after two separate leaked text messages scandals caused the Coalition a major headache.

Over the weekend Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce offered Prime Minister Scott Morrison his resignation after a leaked text message from then-backbencher Joyce that read “[Scott Morrison] is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time”.

“I have never trusted him and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie,” Joyce, who wrestled back the Nationals leadership three months later, continued in the message. Yikes.

Then last night former NSW premier Bob Carr reignited the speculation about which senior minister purportedly called Morrison a “psycho” in a text message exchange with then-NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian.

“The minister who shared the text with [Peter] van Onselen and gave permission to use it was Peter Dutton”, Carr tweeted flatly, continuing “if PM Morrison has one more week in free fall the prospect of a leadership change pre-election is real”.

Dutton is denying everything, saying the claims were “baseless” and “untrue”.

It’s high stakes but it’s easy to forget that Parliament is a workplace like any other, and sometimes employees can play dirty to get the perceived upper hand.

But is it illegal to leak text messages? SmartCompany asked employment lawyer at Marque Lawyers, Wesley Rogers.

Short answer? No.

“Strictly speaking, it’s not illegal to leak your colleague’s text messages,” Rogers explains.

“However, the leaker could be in breach of their confidentiality obligations to their employer and their conduct would likely amount to serious misconduct.”

And it doesn’t end there — anyone who passes on the message could also be in some serious hot water too.

“If an employee is texting a business’ confidential or sensitive information to an outside party, who subsequently leaks those communication, the employee victim of the leak will also be in hot water over breaching their confidential information obligations to their employer,” he says.

Considering Australia is world-renown for our strict defamation laws, could they apply in an instance when someone has smeared another person in a private text exchange that went very public?

Marque Lawyers’ defamation expert Michael Bradley says it’s definitely on the cards.

“If the texts defame someone, then any publication or republication of those texts will expose each person involved in those acts to the risk of a defamation suit,” he says.

Ironically, the person who wrote the original text is unlikely to be in the firing line, Bradley continues.

“Communicating a defamatory statement to one recipient isn’t likely to cause serious harm to the victim’s reputation, but leaking that text to a wider audience is infinitely more dangerous.”

But the texts in question calling Morrison a liar and a hypocrite wouldn’t stand up in a defamation lawsuit, Bradley qualifies.

“The texts everyone’s been talking about aren’t actionably defamatory, as they’re obviously just statements of honest opinion.”

“At least, [it was] the person’s honest opinion at the time, whatever they say about it now!” Bradley says.

Joyce sheepishly confirmed he believes Morrison is trustworthy now and tried to reason away the text message by calling it assumption and commentary, rather than the words of a working relationship.