Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to also fully support the Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010. This bill is another important step forward in protecting the Australian people. It will allow this country’s leading law enforcement agencies, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Defence Signals Directorate and the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation to work cooperatively and effectively.

Prior to coming to this place I spent many years representing respective police jurisdictions across the country. As a consequence I have a very healthy respect for the work of the men and women of our police forces. I certainly have an undying appreciation for the work they do in making our country safe. Police officers in areas I was less familiar with, particularly in the intelligence areas, certainly have a very important job to do. Their job is ever changing and we must provide them with the necessary tools to do their job on behalf of the people of this country.

During my time with the Police Federation Australia I had a significant involvement in the early stages of some of the discussions about telecommunications intercepts. I know that, from a criminal point of view, it is certainly a very significant tool in combating not only organised crime but other aspects that police become involved in including issues of terrorism.

Clearly, across the broader perspective of securing the safety of the nation this aspect is absolutely crucial. Our law enforcement agencies require the development of equally sophisticated methods of accessing telephone intercepts because those we compete against, who are seeking to inflict or potentially inflict damage on this country and its people, are very sophisticated—the same sophistication as would be applied to the capabilities of organised crime. Those involved in planning aggressive acts against this country and its people are not lacking when it comes to intellectual ability with respect to communication systems. Therefore, we must ensure that our people who are charged with that vital responsibility of protecting Australia and its people have the necessary tools to do their job and do that job effectively.

That is why this piece of legislation is so important: to ensure greater cooperation between our respective agencies. As it stands now, under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act it is not possible for ASIO to intercept communications on behalf of smaller agencies which have limited interception abilities. Quite frankly, we cannot expect our law enforcement and security agencies to do all the things that we require of them if we insist on tying their hands behind their backs.

This bill amends the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act to allow ASIO to intercept on behalf of other agencies. It will also enable ASIO to provide the necessary range of technical and logistical assistance and support to other agencies which have obtained warrants to intercept communications. This will help facilitate a whole-of-government approach when we speak of national security.

It is not possible for any government to guarantee that Australia will be free from the threat of terrorism. But this government can guarantee that we will take all necessary and practical measures to combat the threat of terrorism. With the emerging threat of home-grown terrorism it is now more important than ever that our security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies have the right tools and resources to assist them to identify terrorists and potential terrorist organisations, as well as the ability to take protective action.

One thing I would like to note is that our constituents do not see any great distinction between our different law enforcement agencies when it comes to the issue of national security. They simply want to know that things are happening and that they are going to be protected. They certainly are not going to go down and look for some dividing line between various agencies. They simply want protection for themselves and their families. I think that is quite an acceptable position for our constituents. It is certainly one that we need to have regard to, and we need to relieve some of the interjurisdictional burden when it comes to information sharing to ensure that our overall objectives are being achieved.

With this in mind, I fully support the bill and the amendments, which allow for greater flexibility of ASIO to share information that it has with other intelligence agencies within the broader national security community. Importantly, the amendments in this bill preserve the accountability framework which guarantees the way that agencies can acquire and rely on that provided information.

This bill does not extend the jurisdiction of the role of ASIO. The bill does not affect the distinction between law enforcement and intelligence functions. Arrests and prosecutions will remain within the province of the police and the prosecutorial agencies. ASIO’s primary function will remain the gathering and analysing of intelligence.

The bill also makes amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act to improve the operations of that act. These amendments will mean that nominated carriers of service providers are required to regularly inform the Communications Access Coordinator of proposed changes to their service and networks which may affect the carrier’s ability to meet its legal obligation to assist interceptions for that agency.

As a parent, I can only imagine the fear and anxiety that must come when a child or family member goes missing. If I were ever faced with that horrible situation, I would expect that our police and our law enforcement agencies would do all that they possibly could to find the loved one. That is why I think it would be common sense to expect that everybody would fully support the thrust of this bill, which will provide support to our police in finding missing persons. The amendment will allow police to obtain and use telecommunications data such as phone records to assist the finding of a person or, regrettably, in some instances a victim. The amendments also give police access to the stored communications of victims of crime when the victim cannot be located or is unable to give consent to their communications being accessed.

Last year a young woman from Cecil Hills was lured by a communication through, in this case, Facebook—and I know that is beyond Australia’s jurisdiction—to meet with a person she thought was an animal rights activist, unfortunately just down the road from where I live. That person lured her there with a view to assaulting and murdering her, and that is what occurred. I know part of the investigation involved access to her phone records and that is the sort of thing that is being looked at in this legislation. It is not about what is carried on Facebook, which is beyond our jurisdiction, being an international server, but it is certainly about having access to the phone records of the victim in this case.

Regrettably, we all have stories about the way people have been pursued through electronic means. I have to say that this is not something I grew up with, but as a parent and grandparent it is something that I am very conscious of. I think that most parents out there would think that the thrust of this legislation, allowing law enforcement authorities to access stored material, text messages and all those sorts of things that will assist the police to locate missing persons as well as victims, is something that should be applauded.

I support the bill because it offers greater assistance to not only our intelligence agencies but also our police to do their work. It gives them greater tools, greater resources, without extending their jurisdiction to undertake what is expected of them within a modern community. With that, I commend the bill to the House.

Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

in reply—By way of summing up, can I thank honourable members for their contribution to the debate on the Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010. The bill amends the Telecommunications (Interception and Access Act) 1979 and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979, as well as the Intelligence Services Act 2001. Its purpose is to facilitate greater cooperation, assistance and information sharing between law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The inaugural National Security Statement, delivered to parliament on 4 December 2008, highlighted the need for a closer relationship between the agencies that make up the National Security Committee. The National Security Statement also acknowledged the critical need for the sharing of intelligence and data in the current security environment.

The failed terrorist attack on Northwest Airlines flight 253 on 25 December last year also highlighted the need for intelligence, law enforcement and other national security agencies to be well connected and the need to remove legislative barriers to interoperability and intelligent sharing. The National Security Statement, the government’s counterterrorism white paper, acknowledged that responding to modern national security threats requires an intelligence-led, coordinated effort across government. To achieve this, agencies, as I have said, must be well-connected and free from technical and other barriers to sharing relevant information and also expertise.

Vital information is less likely to fall through the gaps if agencies can draw on the expertise of others within law enforcement and national security communities. An example of this is the amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception) Act, which will provide for greater cooperation between Commonwealth and state interception agencies. Currently, under the interception act law enforcement agencies can seek the assistance of other law enforcement agencies in exercising an interception warrant. This ability has enabled smaller agencies with limited interception capability to rely on larger agencies to intercept on their behalf.

The bill will amend the interception act to enable the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation to also intercept on behalf of other agencies. This will ensure that ASIO has greater flexibility to support whole-of-government efforts to protect our communities. The bill will also amend the ASIO Act and the Intelligence Services Act to enable Australia’s security and intelligence agencies to cooperate and assist one another more closely. Specifically, ASIO, the Defence Signals Directorate, the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service will, on request, be able to assist one another in the performance of their functions. The modern security environment requires an intelligence community that is well connected. Multi-agency teams and task forces, such as the Counter-Terrorism Control Centre that is based in ASIO, are an increasing feature of the national security landscape.

These amendments will facilitate greater interoperability in those multi-agency teams and will enable agencies to harness resources in support of key national security priorities. The bill also makes amendments to enhance intelligence sharing between intelligence agencies and the broader national security community. This bill will help to ensure that our national security agencies are able to work together in responding to our increasingly fluid and evolving national security environment. The bill also makes several amendments to the interception act that will improve the operation and responsiveness of the telecommunications interception regime. The bill amends the interception act to require carriers and service providers to inform the Communications Access Coordinator, which is currently a position held by a senior officer within the Attorney-General’s Department, of proposed changes that could significantly affect their ability to comply with their statutory obligation to assist interception agencies. This early notification will ensure that carriers and service providers can meet their obligations to assist and avoid the need for costly alterations once a change has been implemented.

The bill also includes amendments that will support police forces to find missing persons, as indicated by the member for Fowler in the story that he recounted to us, and to solve crimes where the victim cannot be found or cannot consent to their communications being accessed. The bill will also allow an interception agency to notify a delegated officer within the carrier, rather than the managing director, of the existence of a warrant. This removes administrative burdens upon managing directors of carriers in their provision of assistance under the interception act.

The bill makes several minor and technical changes to address formatting and typographical errors and to better reflect plain English drafting conclusions. In conclusion, ensuring that our national security law enforcement agencies have the ability to respond to threats to our national security is a key priority for this government and indeed for any Australian government. The measures contained in this bill build on the steps previously taken in this area to facilitate better interoperability and intelligence sharing between our law enforcement and national security agencies. By shaping and supporting our national security community we will strengthen the capacity of all agencies to protect our communities from criminal and other activities that threaten our national and personal wellbeing. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.