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

The Greens will be supporting Senator Wang's amendment. To me it goes to attention to detail and it would appear to be reasonably common sense that if material is no longer required in connection with the kind of investigations or authorisations that the Attorney-General refers to, there is absolutely no reason why you would not let the journalist in question know that their material had been accessed. I think it is a matter of common courtesy, apart from anything else, but it is also a matter of due process. This is a government that has made numerous referrals to the Federal Police to try to track down who is talking to journalists. This is not an issue that is happening in a vacuum. It is not an academic question. We strongly believe that once those investigations have concluded, or if that material has been found to be no longer necessary, of course the journalist in question should be notified, so I am happy to commend this amendment to the Senate and I congratulate Senator Wang for his contribution to the debate.

Progress reported.