Senate debates
Monday, 4 July 2011
Bills
Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 2) Bill 2011, Corporations Amendment (Improving Accountability on Director and Executive Remuneration) Bill 2011, Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 4) Bill 2011, Tax Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2011, International Tax Agreements Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2011, Acts Interpretation Amendment Bill 2011, Midwife Professional Indemnity Legislation Amendment Bill 2011, Social Security Legislation Amendment (Job Seeker Compliance) Bill 2011, Social Security Amendment (Parenting Payment Transitional Arrangement) Bill 2011, Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Election Commitments and Other Measures) Bill 2011, Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 3) Bill 2011, Family Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011, Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Further Election Commitments and Other Measures) Bill 2011, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Bill 2011
8:20 pm
David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source
Chairman, I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election as Deputy President of the Senate. I would also indicate the government's opposition to Greens' amendment (4). The government does not support this amendment and I would make a few points with regard to that.
The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 was amended in 2010 to provide a definition of foreign intelligence that is consistent with the Intelligence Services Act. Earlier in the debate, Senator Ludlum indicated that his amendment would remove any inconsistencies and certainly would not give rise to any new inconsistencies. Unfortunately, it is the government's view that this is not the case. While the government's bill ensures that there is consistency with the Intelligence Services Act, the act that governs the collection of foreign intelligence by other agencies, Senator Ludlum's amendment would introduce a further inconsistency between these acts.
Further, the amendment of 2010 was particularly important for ensuring that Australia's national security agencies were able to obtain interception warrants, to gain intelligence necessary to protect our national interests, not just from traditional sources but from challenges posed by foreign individuals and organisations operating without any government support, whether it be for economic or personal gain.
Repealing this definition would prevent interception warrants being obtained under sections 11A, 11B and 11C of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act in relation to individuals in nonstate or nonpolitical organisations who might be involved in activities such as people smuggling, people trafficking, illegal fishing and weapons proliferation. I simply repeat the point that has been made several times during this debate: the plethora of nonstate actors and the development and evolution of new threats and new technology threats are all things that the government remains keenly concerned about and the legislative framework should reflect that fact.
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