James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Cyber Security) Share this | Hansard source

N () (): I don't seek to extend this debate any more than is necessary, because I do understand the time sensitivity, and we want to ensure this bill passes. But I do have to correct the record in relation to the minister's claims that this wasn't a priority for the previous government and that we didn't pass it in our previous nine years in office. In fact, it was put to the parliament a number of times in the previous term: first, in September 2019; second, in October 2021; and, third, in February 2022.

The reason it was not successful in achieving passage in September 2019 or October 2021 was that the Labor Party and the Greens voted together to oppose the bills on those occasions. It wasn't until February 2022 that they finally decided to change their position and support it, and they voted for it in the House of Representatives. But, obviously, that was on the eve of the election, and there wasn't time for the Senate to consider and conclude this matter before the election. So, at the next available opportunity, being now, we are bringing this forward again because we have a longstanding commitment to this. It's one that we now share with the Labor Party, given their vote for this bill in the Senate and the opportunity they'll have in the House of Representatives in February. I encourage them to consider supporting it.