Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

If I can just go to the issue: I will repeat what has been attributed to Mr Burgess—I do not have the privilege of knowing Mr Burgess, as the Attorney does; I do not think I will be able to get a statutory declaration from him in the next 10 minutes in the course of this debate but what I think I can do is to put this in the most neutral and objective terms possible. If Mr Burgess actually said—as he is reported to have said: 'there is data required under this new law …'—and just to be fair, I will say that there is an ellipsis there in the quote—'that we don't collect today, that we have no reason to collect today, and we will be collecting it. That is what he is reported to have said.

I understand what the Attorney has said about standardising the periods of data collection, but what Mr Burgess is reported to have said is, in fact, that there is additional data—additional material—that is being required of Telstra and of telecommunications companies, which goes beyond what they are currently collecting. That is why—it is reported—Mr Burgess has said:

We're not saying, 'give us the money because security is going to be an issue'. There is data required under this new law … that we don't collect today, that we have no reason to collect today, and we will be collecting it.

If the Attorney could assume that that is what has been said, the question is whether he agrees with that particular assumption or not.