Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I am not in possession of that but I have got the scrutiny of bills committee document in front of me. I am going to put a couple of questions to you, Senator Brandis, based on the issues that they have put into the field. It seems the committee have identified some grave misgivings about the way that the bill operates. I will go to one specific issue, which I think is the third or fourth one that they raise, around delegation.

Item 1 of schedule 1 of the bill inserts a definition of ASIO affiliate into the act that effectively allows ASIO to delegate an extraordinary array of powers to somebody who is not an employee of ASIO. I just wonder, Minister, if you could give us the benefits of your wisdom on the degree to which ASIO is currently able to delegate any or all of its powers to third parties who may not be an employee of the organisation. Does this is power exist at the moment? Is it something that is completely new?