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

No. I am going to have another go at this, Senator, so you are no longer mystified. Content is not the subject of a retention obligation. That much is clear from clause 187A(4). The only thing that is subject to a retention obligation is information of a kind specified in or under clause 187AA, or documents containing information of that kind. Those which are required to be kept under clause 187AA are the six categories of information, which we have been referring to generically in this debate as 'metadata', set out in the table—and that is it. Unless there were to be a ministerial declaration—which, of course could not contradict clause 187A(4)—of additional categories, the retention obligation is limited only to that which is set out in the table in clause 187AA(1). That obligation is further limited by the exclusion in clause 187A(4) so that if it reveals content it is not subject to the retention obligation, either.