Penny Wright (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Perhaps I could clarify why the Human Rights Committee is so concerned and then perhaps ask the Attorney to expand on why he does not agree with it. The committee's recommendation that retained data be accessed only for the purposes of investigating complex or serious offences is not reasonably characterised as imposing an arbitrary threshold on access to retained data; rather, such a requirement would ensure that the scheme in fact did not represent an arbitrary and disproportionate limitation on the right to privacy. The concern that I have and that the committee has, as expressed in its report, is that while the Attorney-General seeks to reassure us that, although there are very wide and potential broad uses of the retained data under this bill, we are not to worry about it because the agencies would not waste their time accessing that data for trivial reasons, the trouble is that there is nothing to prevent that in the act, as far as my understanding goes. If I am wrong on that then I would like to know.