West Australian Attorney-General Jim McGinty’s refusal to introduce shield media laws will leave journalists in the state and their sources unprotected simply to punish The West Australian newspaper.

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said he was disappointed Mr McGinty was not taking the opportunity to introduce laws to protect communication between journalists and sources.

“If it is related to discussion on how a newspaper reports on the state Government, that doesn’t seem to be the right approach.”

As revealed in The Australian, the discussion over state and federal shield laws has disintegrated into a personal battle between Mr McGinty and The West Australian’s editor, Paul Armstrong.

Mr Ruddock has promised federal shield laws to protect journalists from the threat of prison for refusing to reveal sources. However, these laws will mean little if each of the states does not enact similar legislation. NSW has had similar laws in place since 1995, and Victoria intends to proceed with such legislation.

Mr McGinty told The Australian this week that he would not introduce the laws until the board of West Australian Newspapers sacked Mr Armstrong.

“The board of West Australian Newspapers needs to sack the editor. It is personally driven by a particular individual, with the shield go responsibilities. And when you get a newspaper that is bigoted, lies, cheats and deceives, my view is that you don’t get the shield.”