James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The government opposes this motion. The matters proposed to be referred to the Senate Standing Committee of Privileges are excessively broad in scope and extend to matters of intelligence and law enforcement oversight that are more properly dealt with in other contexts, including the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. Not only are our intelligence and law enforcement agencies already subject to robust oversight of legislation in operations; but shortly our intelligence agencies will be subject to further scrutiny in the context of the independent review into Australia's intelligence community announced by the Prime Minister on Monday, 7 November.