The Turnbull government will review the security clearance of an adviser to crossbench kingmaker Nick Xenophon after revelations he told the media about a massive security breach at the French firm building Australia's new submarines.
Former submariner turned political staffer Rex Patrick has been identified as the source of information for a front page newspaper story in August that triggered an international furore that embarrassed India and the French government-owned submarine builder DCNS.
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Who revealed submarine leak?
There was a massive security breach at the French firm making Australia's new submarines - but who told the media?
As revealed by Fairfax Media, Senator Xenophon knew what his adviser was doing and supported him, resulting in a story that also sparked questions about whether Australia's $50 billion submarine building program could be fully secure under its partnership with DCNS.
Defence Minister Marise Payne said the government "does not consider the unauthorised disclosure of information to be appropriate or in the public interest".
"The Australian government will review the security clearance of any individual or individuals who may have been involved in the alleged unauthorised disclosure," she said on Saturday.
The French government has an investigation under way into the apparent unauthorised disclosure of information regarding the Scorpene submarine, Senator Payne said. "Australia is co-operating with that investigation," she said. "It is a matter for the French government to determine whether the information was sensitive or classified in nature and it is important to let that process be completed."
The leak of thousands of pages of information about the Indian Scorpene submarines included stealth capabilities and sensitive data related to diving, sonar and the combat system. The plans were taken from Paris in 2011 by a contractor before they made their way to Australia via Mr Patrick.
Mr Patrick tried to tell the Department of Defence in 2013 that DCNS had suffered the major data breach but the senior navy officer he spoke to did not act on the information.
Senator Xenophon said he was first made aware of the breach several days before the story was published in The Australian.
"No material was sent to The Australian that in any way disclosed sensitive information," he said. "I believe it was very much in the public interest that the data breach be revealed publicly – without in any way disclosing any sensitive information.
"I consider the person who disclosed the existence of the data breach to have behaved, in all circumstances, in a highly ethical and appropriate manner and in the public interest."
Senator Xenophon said he was provided with a memory stick of the data, which he passed on to Senator Payne.
"I have had discussions with the Defence Minister and her office about this matter and the need to ensure that sensitive data for the future submarine project is protected," he said.
Paris and New Delhi knew nothing of the 22,000-page data breach for three years until The Australian published its story.
DCNS did not know one of its own contractors had walked out with the classified documents, while the Indian government remained unaware that sensitive blueprints for its future hardware were roaming the world and vulnerable to rival powers.
Mr Patrick, who has also worked for former defence minister David Johnston, did not leak the 22,000 pages of documents to The Australian but alerted the organisation to its existence along with a few redacted sample pages to prove the breach was real.