David Leyonhjelm (NSW, Liberal Democratic Party) Share this | Hansard source

I heard your closing speech in the second reading debate from my office. I noted that in your remarks you said that in many respects this tightens up access to metadata and that many agencies do not have any restrictions on their access to metadata, which they will have under this legislation. The difference, of course, is that the ISPs in many cases do not store the metadata for those agencies to access. Under this legislation they will be required to store it for two years, as you know. What I would like from you is to explain whether that changes anything. What you are suggesting is that the situation will not be any worse. There will be two years of metadata available. If ASIC, the ACCC or one of the other agencies with lesser status, if you like, to ASIO, the AFP and so forth, who are chasing terrorists and paedophiles, have a mind to use it for trivial offences, and there is precedent for that overseas, is there anything actually to prevent them from doing so?