The Indi MP said it was fantastic to see newspapers across the county, including The Border Mail, take a united stand this week with front pages that pointed to the government's frequent practice of redacting documents sent to the media.

She said it was time to have a conversation about how politicians sometimes played games with the public by trying to erode trust in the media.

"I think it's a really interesting world where the power brokers have flipped the switch on trust to say that we can't trust the media, when in fact what the people are saying is that 'we've lost trust in the politicians'," Dr Haines said.

"You think of the biggest populist politician, being (US President Donald) Trump, who started the whole 'fake news' thing. In order to protect power in government, you flip the switch to say you can't trust the media."

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Part of the argument from the Right to Know Coalition is that the decision to prosecute journalists should not be with the Attorney-General, and Dr Haines agreed, saying "it needs to be at arms length, anyone would expect that".

She said she would vote in Parliament for a proper media act as well as a national integrity commission.

"We want to know who's deciding whether that is a risk to our national security, and that person I don't think should be a member of the government, because then we're not confident," she said.

"It's a tricky position because there's only certain members of the government who have access to national security intel.

"Of course journalists, like any other person need to be held to account for their behaviour, but a public interest test is super important."

Farrer MP Sussan Ley backed the view of the government that it was committed to press freedom and had deferred the matters to the Intelligence and Security Committee, which is due to report back next month.

"(The committee) is currently considering a number of these issues. This includes on the issues of contested warrants, whether to review the freedom of information system Labor put in place and any suggestions on defamation reform, noting that this issue is being comprehensively looked at as part of the Council of Attorneys-General process," a spokesperson said.

"The government is not closed minded to any of these options, but ensuring a sensible evidence-based process such as that adopted by the Intelligence and Security Committee and Council of Attorneys-General is the best way to produce workable outcomes."