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

I believe the amendment should be agreed to, so I commend it to the chamber. For the benefit of senators, when the debate was interrupted before question time we were discussing the issue of whether it should be a two-year mandatory data retention period, if it is mandatory at all, or, in conflicting proposals, three months or six months. We had spoken of diminishing returns and the fact that most data is nowhere near two years old in the jurisdictions for which we have information and that we do not have information in Australia; and thus, like so much of the rest of this policy, we are proceeding on the basis of anecdote rather than evidence. I do not propose to repeat myself because we still have a long way to go, so I commend Australian Greens amendment (5) on sheet 7669 to the chamber.

Question negatived.