I suspect it was the investigation into him which led to the media's interest, either directly or indirectly.

It's obviously possible that the raid was brought forward if the authorities believe that the media attention gave Wright a bigger motive to have someone destroy evidence at his home than the tax investigation alone warranted.  Tax evasion/tax fraud and money laundering often go hand in hand, after all.   

The images of the raid don't suggest a whole lot of urgency, though, and neither the ATO nor the administrator stopped Wright from leaving Australia so I guess we'll just have to wait to learn exactly what the authorities knew about Wright and when, whether or not he turns out to have been associated with Bitcoin's early development.