Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I will take the minister's interjection, because this goes to the very point of the secret deal that has been struck today by Senator Lambie and the government. I hope somewhere in this building Senator Lambie is watching and listening to this debate, because the fact that Minister Cormann has had his, quite frankly, feelings hurt and has had to come here into this chamber and argue about whether or not the word 'facilitate' means support or not is exactly the type of loophole that they will rely upon in whatever secret agreement they have struck with Senator Lambie. This is why Senator Lambie should be very worried about whatever the secret deal that she has struck with this government is because, as long as it remains secret, she will struggle to hold them to account and, once it becomes public, it will become clear that they will find ways to wiggle out of the accountability and the commitments that they have made.

I thank the minister for taking the time in the Senate to make these points in this way because all he has managed to do is highlight the sensitivity the government has over the fact that the encryption laws remain unamended. They are and remain the subject of extraordinary concern by the technology sector in this country. They are curtailing jobs and economic growth. The House Judiciary Committee of the US Congress has written to Minister Dutton to express its serious concern that the laws, as they currently stand, do not conform to the CLOUD Act—that is, the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act that would allow our law enforcement agencies to have much quicker access to data overseas to solve crimes. That's what is happening here. Everyone who is listening and watching, make no mistake: that is why we have moved these amendments. Clearly the government feels sensitivity to it, but we will continue, with the support of the tech sector in this country and I hope the support of the crossbench, to pursue these amendments in the new year.