Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion and to express my concern that the bill I seconded just a few weeks ago has been stonewalled by this Labor government. While Labor dithers and delays on cybersecurity, those who would do us harm continue to maliciously attack our small and family businesses and our critical infrastructure. This is the trend that, unfortunately, we are seeing more and more of. According to the ACSC's report released just last week, we've seen 76,000 cyberattacks over the last financial year. That equates to an attack every seven minutes. But those are just the reported attacks. How many unreported attacks are going on in this country? As the ACSC has noted, cyberspace is becoming a battleground, and we're seeing that most notably, of course, in Ukraine. It's not just cybercriminals, however, who are seeking to do Australians harm. Many attacks are being perpetrated by organisations within foreign governments designed to disrupt our very way of life and cause civil disharmony.

The bill that I seconded just a few short weeks ago, introduced by the member for McPherson, the shadow home affairs minister, was based on legislation we introduced when we were in government earlier this year. It would specifically reform criminal law and secure tougher penalties for all forms of cyberextortion in the event of the exact cybersecurity issues that we've been seeing in recent months—particularly in recent months in Australia. It forms part of the Ransomware Action Plan that the previous coalition government launched last year under the guidance of the then Minister for Home Affairs. It's a practical solution to an issue which costs as much as US$20 billion each year, and the number of those affected is only growing: Optus, Medibank, MyDeal, UnitingCare Queensland and Toll Holdings Ltd. These are enormous companies in Australia which hold very, very sensitive data on probably just about every Australian. Australians expect that their data will be protected. Australians expect that their government would take action to disrupt, deter and punish those involved in malicious cybercrimes such as these ransomware attacks. The opposition has offered good legislation to this government, free to take, free to implement and free to protect Australians' information. Instead, they seek to play politics by blocking sensible bills put forward by this opposition. And it is Australians and their businesses who are left to wear the consequences of serious data breaches.

So what is Labor going to do about this? It is essential that Labor outline what they are going to do about cybersecurity and data protection in our country. This is not a question of just hosting another summit or another talkfest; what are they going to do to get down to work and fix this problem? That is what Australians expect their governments to do; they expect them to work. Will Australians see the ransomware bill across the finish line in a show of bipartisanship on security? Will they consider the other measures which we brought to the table to protect Australians and their interests? Will they retain and deliver in full the record funding of almost $10 billion that we, when we were in government, made to implement Project REDSPICE, to strengthen our offensive and defensive cybercapabilities through the Australian Signals Directorate? It is absolutely imperative that we as a nation strengthen our ability to attack these sources that are seeking to attack us. It's not just a question of defensive measures; we have to increase and enable much better offensive mechanisms.

Lastly, I want to comment that there's no point in just putting investment into ambulances. We have to try and prevent things as well, which is what we're trying to do. I want to give a big shoutout to IDCARE, an organisation in my electorate which was funded by us when we were in government. If you have had your identity stolen or put at risk, contact IDCARE—do a Google search for IDCARE—and they will help you.

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