Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday assured the Seven Network the federal government would support a formal complaint into the attack on Channel 7 News US correspondent Amelia Brace and cameraman Tim Myers.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Monday said the federal government was treating the incident as a “very serious matter”.
“Our Embassy in the United States will approach the relevant authorities, and Channel Seven will also provide us with their views on how they wish to deal with it,” Payne said.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese earlier condemned the attack and called for the Australian ambassador to intervene.
“The ambassador certainly should be making representations on behalf of these Australians, who effectively have been assaulted — that’s what it is — for doing their job,” he said.
“In a democratic society, the role of the media is critical and it’s important that the media are able to report on events, including crises such as we’re seeing in the United States, free from harassment.
“And the violence that has occurred towards members of the media, Australian media and domestic media as well, with tear gas being fired, with media being assaulted, is completely unacceptable.”
The US ambassador to Australia has since stated his country remains committed to “protecting journalists” following the incident.
Ambassador Arthur B Culvahouse Jr issued a statement via the embassy’s Twitter account late on Tuesday.
“Freedom of the press is a right Australians and Americans hold dear,” the statement read.
“We take mistreatment of journalists seriously, as do all who take democracy seriously.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting journalists and guaranteeing equal justice under law for all.”
The statement also quoted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said the Department of State “works tirelessly to advance press freedom”.
Channel 7’s Brace and Myers were reporting live on Sunrise on Tuesday morning when police in riot gear moved in to clear protesters from the area.
Myers was hit with a riot shield and punched in the face, while Brace was clubbed with a truncheon.
Both were shot with rubber bullets and struggled to breathe after tear gas was thrown at the crowd.
Sunrise hosts David Koch and Samantha Armitage temporarily lost contact with the pair as they fled.
Footage from a different news crew nearby also caught the moment.
That footage shows that, as the Australians tried to escape, another officer swung at them with a baton and a third appeared to try to hold his colleagues back and let the journalists go.
The Australians are not the only journalists to have met with aggression from police live on air.
Across the United States, press freedom advocacy groups have reportedly tracked more than 125 incidents in three days of journalists facing attacks from police and protesters and other press freedom violations, including incidents with foreign journalists from Germany, Britain, and Australia.
