Victoria police investigating the alleged hacking of the Labor Party's database of supporters in November 2010 searched the computers of three The Age reporters inside the Melbourne office of the newspaper instead of confiscating the machines on Thursday.

The Age editor-in-chief Paul Ramadge prevented the removal of the computers by investigators from the e-Crime Squad by obtaining a Supreme Court injunction. Justice Karin Emerton ordered the police to analyse the computers within the premises of The Age and for the newspaper company to allow the investigators access to the machines.

Ramadge had argued that removing the PCs of Nick McKenzie, Royce Millar and Ben Schneiders will expose confidential information not related to the investigation of their alleged hacking of the Labour Party's database of supporters and voters. He was referring to names of sources whose identifies The Age are protecting and keeping confidential.

''While we are co-operating with police, we have expressed our grave concerns over the risk that our sources for the report may be identified. We protect our sources at all costs. It is a code that cuts to the heart of everything we do as journalists. It is about trust. It is about ethics. If the sources for this report are identified through the police searches, even inadvertently, it will be a dark day for journalism," Ramadge was quoted as saying by The Age.

During the inspection of the computers and desks, Ramadge and the reporters stood behind to watch the investigators search for soft and hardcopies inside the newsroom.

The investigation, which aims to identify reporters who accessed the database, was triggered by The Age's reports that the Labour Party allowed election campaign workers to access personal information of its supporters in Victoria stored in the database. Reporters apparently checked the database for prominent names eliciting complaints of hacking.

The Age office at the corner of Spencer St. and Collins St, in Melbourne.
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