Walter Sofronoff KC releases letter explaining why he handed board of inquiry report to journalists

Mr Sofronoff, who chaired the inquiry that examined the handling of the Parliament House rape trial, on Thursday released his letter justifying why he handed the report to two journalists, who had asked for advanced copies.

Lawyers for Mr Sofronoff also wrote to Chief Minister Andrew Barr to point out he had not breached the Inquiries Act in releasing the report and ask Mr Barr to make a public statement correcting the record, the released letters showed.

"Our client respectfully suggests that the persistence of criticism of him can serve no good purpose for the government and it has been, and if it persists will continue to be, harmful to him as well as to the interests of the ACT government in dealing with issues facing it," the lawyer's letter said.

The letter said a public statement that Mr Barr was "now satisfied that Mr Sofronoff performed his duties properly and fully" would "put an end to the matter as far as Mr Sofronoff is concerned".

"Mr Barr's statement that he found Mr Sofronoff's statement (in his letter to you) that he engaged with journalists 'concerning' was baffling to our client," Mr Sofronoff's lawyers wrote.

"He presumes that Mr Barr was not informed that this was always public knowledge and that it was an important part of the statutory function of the chair to take the public into his confidence."

Mr Barr had suggested Mr Sofronoff breached his trust and the board of inquiry chair could be referred to the Integrity Commission. The Chief Minister also said he was "concerned" to learn Mr Sofronoff had engaged with journalists through the inquiry. Mr Barr has not backtracked on the comments in public.

Mr Sofronoff wrote it would have been wrong to deny journalists access to himself, counsel assisting or information before the inquiry.

"Indeed, I hold the firm view that it would be a failure of performance of my function if I did not, myself and by my counsel assisting, form appropriate relationships with journalists in order to serve the statutory purpose of public education and involvement," he wrote.

Mr Sofronoff wrote to Mr Barr and ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury to explain why he chose to release the report to two journalists, The Australian's Janet Albrechsten and the ABC's Elizabeth Byrne, under embargo.

Ms Albrechsten was given the report before it was handed to Chief Minister Andrew Barr, under condition that it would not be published until the government released it formally, whenever that occured.

The Australian then published a 6200-word story on the evening of Wednesday, August 2, quoting extensively from the report. The report was published before the government released the report.

Mr Sofronoff told Mr Barr and Mr Rattenbury in the letter he had been told The Australian had procured another copy of the report.

"Ms Albrechsten informed me by telephone that she had obtained a copy of my report from another source and that she regarded herself as being at liberty to write about its contents. I have no reason to believe that she was lying to me," Mr Sofronoff wrote.

A spokeswoman for Mr Barr has previously said the ACT government was confident the report did not leak from the government.

READ MORE: Who knew what and when? How the Walter Sofronoff board of inquiry report leak unfolded

Mr Sofronoff also confirmed he gave the report to a solicitor representing Brittany Higgins "to ensure I that I had written nothing in a way that she might misconstrue in a way that might actually injure her health".

Mr Sofronoff wrote he provided copies of the inquiry report to journalists under his authority as the inquiry chair. The Inquiries Act says the board "may do whatever it considers necessary or convenient for the fair and prompt conduct of the inquiry", Mr Sofronoff noted.

"My previous experience, as well as my experience in this inquiry, has led me to conclude that it is possible to identify journalists who are ethical and who understand the importance of their role in the conduct of a public inquiry. I have not had my trust betrayed nor have I had any reason to be disappointed. The outcome of this process of professional engagement with journalists has been that, on the whole, stories about the inquiry have been on point and informative," he wrote.

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The correspondence between the ACT government and Mr Sofronoff had been the subject of freedom-of-information requests, including from The Canberra Times.

An ACT government spokeswoman on Thursday said the government followed laws governing the release of information under freedom-of-information laws, but Mr Sofronoff was free to release any correspondence in his possession.

A legal representative for Mr Sofronoff said the former Queensland solicitor-general had told the ACT government it should be released and asked for a response by noon on Thursday, but had received no reply.

"As the ACT Chief Minister has not publicly released the correspondence within a reasonable period of time, Mr Sofronoff has asked me to do so," the letter from Mr Sofronoff's lawyer, Glen Cranny, said.

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