Turnbull opposed domestic spying: report

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull opposed the idea of letting the electronic spy agency monitor Australians, it has been reported.

Mr Turnbull told a meeting of the national security committee of cabinet he would not back a domestic expansion of the Australian Signals Directorate's activities out of an "abundance of caution", The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing multiple sources.

The meeting came after News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst published a story in 2018 detailing an alleged government proposal to spy on Australians.

Mr Turnbull reportedly did not know about the alleged proposal and sought an explanation from the ASD director-general after the story.

AFP officers searched the Canberra home of Ms Smethurst on Tuesday over her 2018 story.

Officers also carried out a raid on the ABC's Sydney offices on Wednesday in relation to ABC news reports in 2017 that revealed Australian defence personnel may have committed war crimes in Afghanistan.