George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Xenophon, I understand your point perfectly, although I should point out to you that the obligation is an obligation to retain, not an obligation to collect. That being said, you rightly say—and it is a point I have acknowledged already in the course of the debate—that there are variable practices across the industry. There are variable practices across the industry in relation to the period of time for which data is retained and the actual nature of the metadata that is retained. I think you are particularly focusing on the second of those two points. The practices do vary, but I am advised that there is nothing in the data set—that is, at the tabled proposed section 187AA—that is not commonly retained across the industry. Individual telecommunications companies and individual internet service providers might have different practices in relation to particular metadata. They may have variable practices in relation to the periods for which they retain that metadata, but the character of the obligation which is standardised and routinised by this bill is to impose as a statutory obligation what is industry practice. I acknowledge that that industry practice is variable, but it is industry practice.