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

The government acknowledges that the threat of political interference by foreign intelligence services is a problem of the highest order and that it is getting worse. In early May this year, the Prime Minister initiated a comprehensive review of Australia's espionage and foreign interference laws, and the Attorney-General is leading this review. Following the completion of this review, a tranche of legislative reforms will be introduced into the parliament which, as per standard practice, will be immediately referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for review. The committee will then have the chance to review these important matters in the usual way. A premature referral will only duplicate, if not delay, efforts already underway to review these matters.