Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010. The coalition supports this bill in principle, subject to consideration of any potential recommendations of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee. The need for this bill has been highlighted by events in recent years. The failed terrorist attack on Northwest Airlines flight 253 on Christmas Day last year brought to attention the need for intelligence, law enforcement and other national security agencies to be both well resourced and well connected. There is a clear need to remove legislative barriers to interoperability and intelligence sharing, and this bill goes some way towards achieving this.

The bill is intended to enable the various security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to respond quickly to a threat, to share information and to operate effectively within their defined roles in multi-agency teams. The government has recently announced the establishment of the Counter-Terrorism Control Centre, which is the principal example of the interoperability sought to be facilitated by this bill. In particular, ASIO has expertise in areas that would assist law enforcement agencies to have access to information.

The bill will enable ASIO to provide assistance to those agencies in relation to telecommunications interception, technical support, logistics and analytical assistance. This assistance will be invaluable in combating serious organised crime and in urgent matters where people’s lives are at risk. In some circumstances telecommunications data may be obtained to find missing persons or to access stored communications of victims of crime whose consent cannot otherwise be obtained. Each of the security and intelligence agencies has its character or delimited areas of operation to ensure that powers entrusted to them are not abused.

The intention of the bill is not to authorise operation outside agencies’ charters but to permit cooperation for limited purposes so as to enhance interoperability and approved joint activities requiring information sharing. As noted in the explanatory memorandum, the bill will enable the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Defence Signals Directorate and the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation to more closely cooperate and assist one another in the performance of their functions. The bill will facilitate these agencies being able to work together and harness resources in support of key national security priorities.

It is appropriate to note the hard work and serious efforts of our Australian security agencies and their outcomes in achieving to make Australia a safer place to live. Australia is privileged to boast a reputation as one of the safest nations in the world. May it always be so.

The bill is a step towards better utilising the talent and resources that will preserve the safety of Australian citizens. The coalition, as I have said before, supports this bill in principle; however, it foreshadows potential amendments pending the report of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.

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