Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

As I said in answer to the first question—Senator Ludlam ought be careful about pre-preparing questions—the relevant Australian agencies are discussing with their US counterparts any possible implications the NSA disclosure may have for the Australian government. There is, can I be plain about this, no basis for claiming that Australian agencies get access to information from the US that would not otherwise be legal in Australia, and the intelligence activities of all Australian government agencies are conducted in strict accordance with Australian law. What I did say of course was that the Australian government does work closely with our allies on intelligence matters because it is about protecting our national interests, including the security of Australians both home and overseas. So I do reject the premise of the question that was put by Senator Ludlam on this matter. (Time expired)