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

Senator Cameron, I would have thought, this being a matter of national security, you might take it a little more seriously, rather than making your asinine injections. Australia's espionage, foreign interference and related laws have not kept pace with the nature and scale of the threat from foreign intelligence activity in this country. Australia's existing espionage offences are outdated. There has not been a successful espionage prosecution, in fact, for decades. We do not currently have any offences targeting broader covert foreign interference activities in this country, and our sabotage and treason offences are unworkable and out of date.

The government's proposed reforms will implement a tiered approach to acts of espionage and foreign interference, covering both intentional and reckless conduct and with penalties proportionate to their seriousness. They are designed to capture the full range of conduct undertaken by foreign intelligence services and other malicious actors to compromise our information and prejudice our national security. The penalties for espionage range from life imprisonment for the most serious offences to 15 years for the lesser offences. Penalties for foreign interference offences will range from 10 to 20 years imprisonment.

With these reforms, the Turnbull government is proposing world-leading legislation, developed after consultation with some of our closest intelligence partners, that will empower our agencies to protect Australia and its people from modern threats of state-sponsored interference and covert influence.