I find it strange , even suspicious that the ABC were buying 2nd hand cabinets and it just happens that those documents were in those very cabinets.

ABC hands back 1500 sensitive cabinet documents, PM office admits fault

THE Prime Minister’s Department has admitted responsibility for the loss of sensitive documents that were sold in a cabinet at a second-hand store before falling into the hands of the ABC.

In a statement this evening, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet said: “It is now reasonably evident that the cabinets and documents which are the subject of the AFP investigation, came from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

“While it remains unclear, it is likely this occurred some time ago.

“This casts the Department in a poor light and this failure has implications for the rest of the Australian Public Service.”

RELATED: AFP attacks ABC over ‘leaks’
ASIO secures cabinet files at ABC offices in Canberra and Brisbane. Picture: ABC News

Earlier, ASIO officers retrieved the cabinet documents obtained by the ABC.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the ABC reached an agreement on the return of the documents, according to ABC News.

The papers were retrieved from Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane late Thursday evening, where they had been temporarily stored in safes on ABC premises.

ASIO officers secured the documents earlier on Thursday at the ABC offices after they were found in a locked filing cabinet bought from a second-hand shop.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet launched an urgent investigation on Wednesday after the ABC revealed it had obtained papers covering details of five federal government cabinet meetings over a decade.

The filing cabinets were unlocked with a drill months later.

The trove, some classified “top secret”, was sold cheaply at a second-hand shop in Canberra, which stocked ex-government furniture.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said the person responsible for losing the documents will have serious questions to answer.

“Obviously someone’s had a shocker and the investigation will find out exactly how this happened,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.

Cabinet papers are legally supposed to remain secret for 20 years after their production.

“In the process of running a country, there are things which go awry. This is one of them,” Mr Joyce said.

The ABC said it had chosen not to publish many of the documents because of their classified nature.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott said he believed a junior or mid-ranking departmental officer was to blame and insisted they “pay a price”.

“Not so much a cabinet leak as a leaked cabinet — that seems to be the problem,” Mr Abbott told 2GB radio.

Grendel Your Lowness, after your very clear demonstration of ignorance yesterday....the ABC were buying 2nd hand cabinets and it just happens that those documents were in those very cabinets.......I doubt you are quite the person to be delivering lectures on anything at all.