Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend business of the Senate notice of motion No. 1 standing in my name and in the names of Senators Ludlam and Lambie for today proposing a reference to the Economics References Committee relating to the 2016 census. I also ask that Senator Dastyari's name be added as a co-sponsor of this motion.

Leave granted.

I, and also on behalf of Senators Ludlam, Lambie and Dastyari, move the motion as amended:

That the following matters be referred to the Economics References Committee for inquiry and report by 24 November 2016:

The 2016 Census, with particular reference to:

(a) the preparation, administration and management on the part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Government in the lead up to the 2016 Census;

(b) the scope, collection, retention, security and use of data obtained in the 2016 Census;

(c) arrangements, including contractual arrangements, in respect of the information technology aspects of the Census;

(d) the shutting down of the Census website on the evening of 9 August 2016, the factors leading to that shutdown and the reasons given, and the support provided by government agencies, including the Australian Signals Directorate;

(e) the response rate to the Census and factors that may have affected the response rate;

(f) privacy concerns in respect of the 2016 Census, including the use of data linking, information security and statistical linkage keys;

(g) Australia's Census of Population and Housing generally, including purpose, scope, regularity and cost and benefits;

(h) the adequacy of funding and resources to the ABS;

  (i) ministerial oversight and responsibility; and

(j) any related matters.

I seek leave to make a short 30-second statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for 30 seconds.

Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This motion in its proposed amended form is in fact a hybrid of this motion and a motion in very similar terms that was to be moved by Senator Dastyari. We share similar concerns over the census and I am pleased that a consensus was reached with this motion.

Question agreed to.

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

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

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

The government does not believe this inquiry is needed given that Alastair MacGibbon, the government's cybersecurity advisor, has been appointed by the Prime Minister to conduct a thorough review. Mr MacGibbon's review team has been formed in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with representatives also from the Australian Signals Directorate, the Department of Finance, the Department of the Treasury, the Digital Transformation Office and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The review team is expected to conclude its report by the end of September 2016.

Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to echo the comments that were made by Senator Xenophon earlier: that this amended motion is now a hybrid motion of two very similar terms of reference that were placed—a terms of reference placed by the Labor Party and a terms of reference placed by another group of senators. Together, we have been able to bring in the differences. I foreshadow then that, hopefully, we will only be having one inquiry, not two. But we will get to that business soon.

Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the chamber. I would also like to acknowledge Senator Xenophon for bringing these terms of reference forward, and for the collaborative way in which the opposition has sought to make sure that one inquiry, rather than two, is set afoot. Also acknowledging Senator McGrath's comments, I think it will be extremely valuable to the Senate inquiry to have the report, as you indicated, that Mr MacGibbon and his colleagues will be putting together into the technical aspects of what happened on Census night. As you will have seen, if you have seen the terms of reference that have been circulated in Senator Xenophon's, Senator Lambie's and my name, the inquiry that has been referred to the economics committee goes significantly further into the lead-up to the Census and into the steps that were put in place that created such scepticism in the run-up that it may, in fact, contaminate the dataset.

Personally, I am interested to know whether the Census is going to be re-run—it is that far-reaching. It is not simply a question of what happened on Census night to blow the process up, but of what happened in the lead-up to take such confidence away from what should have been a completely uncontroversial continuation of the Census process. (Time expired)

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion, as amended, moved by Senator Xenophon be agreed to.

Question agreed to.