Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Brandis, you have said that we should put the questions and you will answer them, so I would like to follow up on the question that Senator Wright asked with regard to what constitutes a class of Australian persons for the purpose of the expanded powers, given that ASIS can conduct activities in respect of Australians overseas. I note the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights report, on page 19, points out that, as a result of these proposed amendments, ASIS would be able to collect intelligence on an Australian person, using surveillance techniques on that person simply because that person belongs to a specified class. The committee is concerned that, in the absence of detailed legislative criteria for the determination of a class of persons, that class of persons may include all Australian persons adhering to certain religious beliefs, adhering to certain political or ideological beliefs or who have certain ethnic backgrounds. It goes on to say that the committee considers that a class authorisation power has the potential to apply intrusive interrogation powers to a group which do not apply to the broader community and, as such, could be indirectly discriminatory because—although neutral on its face—it disproportionately affects people with a particular personal attribute such as religious or political belief or ethnic background. So it is not unreasonable to ask you to point out, as Senator Wright has done, how 'class of persons' is defined in the redrafted explanatory memorandum. What does it mean in context? What do you mean by a 'class of persons' that will now be subjected, if this legislation were to pass, to these surveillance powers being unleashed upon them?