George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

As Senator Johnston knows, metadata is used in a very large number of serious criminal and security related investigations, including murder, sexual assault, child exploitation, organised crime and, of course, counterterrorism. The Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Andrew Colvin, recently advised that between July and September 2014 metadata was used in 92 per cent of all counterterrorism investigations.

The bill does not provide any new powers to the agencies. The records kept by service providers have long provided Australia's law enforcement and security agencies with valuable intelligence and evidence. However, service providers are not obliged to retain this data, and changing technologies and business practices have meant that less information is being retained than was hitherto the case, and for shorter periods. This is having a critical impact on the capacity of law enforcement and national security agencies, and the legislation addresses that gap. (Time expired)