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

Senator McKim, I suggest, with respect, that before you start criticising a bill you should acquaint yourself with its provisions. Nothing you have said in your question accurately reflects any provision of the bill. The fact is the bill was referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. That committee made 27 recommendations, and the 27th recommendation was that the bill with amendments be passed. The 26 substantive recommendations were recommendations to enhance the operation of the bill to protect the rights of the individual and to protect the rule of law and to ensure that there was an even greater level of parliamentary scrutiny, in particular through the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, than there hitherto had been. The government adopted all of those recommendations. Senator McKim, you say the bill is flawed. I accept that in good faith you may have criticisms of the bill, and no doubt we will debate that matter when the bill comes before the Senate, but it is not legally flawed. That is the advice of the Commonwealth Solicitor-General which was conveyed to the committee—