Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

To clarify that absolutely, it is an offence if the person does so without the knowledge of ‘neither of the following’. That means one of the following, not both. If I gave the impression that both were required then that is incorrect. It is ‘neither of the following’. In fact, I inquired as to why you would not put an ‘or’ after ‘stored communication’. The advice I got was that that in fact would have the reverse effect. You would then have a cumulative effect in exactly the way that Senator Stott Despoja has just made out—that is, it would be an offence to do so without the knowledge of both. We are saying that as long as you have the knowledge of one of them you are right, and that is it. The way it is drafted, on the advice I have, achieves that. That is the advice I have and that is what it means.