Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I do understand that it is a sensitive issue. However, I can add that agencies do have obligations on them. It is certainly expected that the methods used for storage and destruction would be appropriate for the particular sensitive nature of the material. The destruction process is not set out in the Interception Act, but there are secondary disclosure provisions in the act which would mean that if there was a secondary disclosure under the act it would be captured by that provision. This government—and I think the previous government—considered the measures contained within the Interception Act to be reasonable, given the nature of the types of information that are sought and held and the agencies which held them. Therefore, it is not a matter that this government is going to reconsider. We do not support the amendments. We think that the current requirements are sufficient to deal with the records that are currently being maintained.

Question negatived.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.