Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, honourable member for Melbourne Ports. The legislative changes outlined in this bill must be made to ensure that Australia meets the requirements that enable it to join the convention. This will help ensure that the trail of evidence left behind by cybercriminals when they commit their offences is preserved, retrievable and accessible to those investigating and fighting online crimes. The treaty fosters mutual assistance between member nations, creating an international network that embraces cooperation and mutual assistance with respect to crimes that are not restricted by international borders. Increasingly, with cybercrime becoming a greater and greater concern, crimes are no longer restricted by the boundaries of a nation state. This cybercrime-fighting convention is the first international treaty of its kind that deals with cyber and online crime. As I said before, a number of other nations not in Europe have become part of it.

This bill provides for amendments to various acts including the Telecommunications Act 1997, the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 and also the Criminal Code Act 1995. The changes include: requiring telecommunications carriers to store communications data for specific people when requested by the Australian Federal Police on behalf of other countries, giving Australian authorities the right to obtain and disclose relevant telecommunications data for the purposes of a foreign investigation, providing for extraterritorial operation of some offences under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, modifying the offences outlined in the Criminal Code Act 1995 to ensure that it has a wider and more adequate scope, and creating confidentially protections in relation to authorising the disclosure of telecommunications data.

The world of crime continues to evolve. When television first came out, a lot of people were transfixed by programs like The FBI and other programs that led us to believe that the forces of good would always outweigh the forces of evil. But time has marched on, criminals are not always what they appeared to be and it really is important that governments, nations and the world use the latest technology, whatever that might be, to make sure that cybercriminals are apprehended in the way that every other criminal should be. The internet is a powerful and far-reaching weapon. It should be used as a tool; it should be used to our benefit, and if people want to use it for another purpose then it is absolutely vital that they are apprehended and stopped.

This bill will add to the legislative arsenal that is available to fight against cybercrime. It is somewhat unfortunate that the bill has been brought into the House so soon after the release of the report from the Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety, so it may eventuate that we have to review some of the provisions of this legislation in the future. Having said that, this is good legislation, necessary legislation. It is legislation which may in the future be required to be changed, but ultimately it is better that we should get it on the statute books now and if it needs some tweaking in the future then obviously that is within the purview of the parliament to achieve. I am very pleased to add my voice to the voices of those people supporting the bill before the House which will, in my view, assist greatly in the fighting of cybercrime and cybercriminals. I commend the Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 to honourable members and to the parliament.

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