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

Thank you. Senator Fifield—through you, Mr President—the problem with conspiracy theories is that some of them are more than just theories. I move this motion—and I hope to get opposition and crossbench support for it—because it has been past practice for the last three years for government reports on warrantless metadata collection and the warranted surveillance of Australians to be tabled in November or December. I would have thought the government would want this parliament to be in possession of the full facts of warrantless and warranted surveillance of Australians, rather than withholding the production of this report. It is one of the most important pieces of evidence that this country has as to the annual, steady, year-on-year increase of warrantless surveillance of Australians whether; warranted surveillance has stayed roughly consistent. So I would urge the government, if it does not want to be accused of withholding essential information, to find out why the Attorney-General's Department has not passed that material on to the minister, and to table it immediately.

Question agreed to.