Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The Morrison government is committed to uplifting the security of critical infrastructure and safeguarding the essential services they provide for all Australians. Recent incidents, such as compromises of the Australian parliamentary network, university networks and key corporate entities, illustrate that threats to the operation of Australia's critical infrastructure assets continue to be significant. The interconnected nature of our critical infrastructure means that a compromise of one essential function can have a domino effect that degrades or disrupts others. The consequences of a prolonged and widespread failure in the energy sector, for example, could be catastrophic to our economy, security and sovereignty as well as to the Australian way of life.

The government has introduced the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2020 to enhance the security of critical infrastructure in Australia, to build situational awareness and to enable the government to assist industry to effectively prevent, defend against and recover from serious cybersecurity incidents. The measures in this bill are a vital step towards uplifting the security of the critical infrastructure that underpins the delivery of goods and services that are essential to the Australian way of life, our nation's wealth and prosperity and our national security. I would like to thank the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for its work on this bill, through its inquiry and recommendations. I also thank members for their contributions and call on them to support this vital bill.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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