Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to sum up debate on the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2021. In the first instance I would like to thank my colleagues for their contributions to the debate. I'd also like to reaffirm that the Morrison government's first priority is ensuring the safety and the security of all Australians. We make absolutely no excuses for that. It is therefore vital that our law enforcement agencies have effective tools to protect the Australian community. This bill is one part of the government's response to the challenges posed by anonymising technologies and cyberenabled crime, such as offending perpetrated on the dark web. What we are now seeing and what we are aware of is the increasing use of the dark web and anonymising technologies has significantly degraded agencies' ability to identify and disrupt serious crime occurring online. I do note the comments made by the Australian Greens, by Senator Patrick and by Senator Roberts on behalf of One Nation, but let's make sure we are putting this bill into perspective.

This bill introduces three measures to enhance the ability of the Australian Federal Police and the ACIC to identify and disrupt serious crime online. Data disruption warrants authorise the deletion or modification of data. We are going to refer here to child exploitation material—that is what they are looking at—to frustrate the commission of serious offences online. On any analysis, I would say that child exploitation material is an absolute disgrace. Network activity warrants enable the AFP and the ACIC to collect intelligence on criminal networks operating online. And account takeover warrants allow law enforcement to take control of online accounts, in order to gather evidence about a person's online criminality and the activity of their associates. What these reforms will do is equip agencies with the tools and powers they need to protect the Australian community from serious criminals operating online. Again, I would like to highlight the types of behaviour we are addressing, including terrorists, organised crime and those who seek to harm our children.

The bill is also supported by strong safeguards and oversight to protect the privacy of Australians and ensure that the powers are only used where necessary, proportionate and reasonable. The bill will substantially boost the capacity of the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to identify and disrupt serious criminal activity occurring online, particularly activity by criminals who seek to use the dark web and other platforms to evade law enforcement. That is what they are doing. They are utilising these technologies, the dark web and other platforms, to evade law enforcement.

The arrest of more than 290 criminals as part of Operation Ironside earlier this year was a testament to the dedication and hard work of our law enforcement agencies, but what it also demonstrated is the persistent and ever-evolving threat of transnational, serious and organised crime, and their increasing tendency to seek out and use technology often operated exclusively for the criminal market to conceal their offending. In the case of Operation Ironside, ingenuity and world-class capability gave our law enforcement an edge. That is a good thing, when you look at what we are now confronted with in 2021.

This bill is just one more step the government is taking—and we make no apology for protecting Australians—to ensure that our agencies maintain that edge. The bill has been extensively reviewed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, with a report tabled by the committee on 5 August 2021, and the government thanks the committee for its review of these important reforms. Let me make it clear: the Morrison government does not accept serious crime in our communities and neither should we accept it online. Our laws must keep pace with technology if our agencies are to continue to do the job that we expect of them. That job is consistent with the Morrison government's first priority, to ensure the safety and security of all Australians. With those brief comments, I commend the bill to the Senate.