Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I would like to talk about this coalition government's track record in relation to IT and its general failure in the space of telecommunications, data protection and civil rights.

This government—first under Mr Abbott and now under Prime Minister Turnbull—have proven time and time again that they are not fit to lead Australia into the digital future. Indeed, after the very distressing developments of today in relation to Senator Molan's sympathies towards the Britain First movement and the apparent imbibing into the Australian parliament of an individual sympathetic to the ultranationalistic, I am quite unconvinced that this government is capable of even leading its own backside out of a straight maze. But, there you go. The lengths they will go to drive Australians backwards, far away from technological capability, are quite astonishing and matched only by their seeming limitlessness.

I would like now to list just a few key failures of the government in this space, some of the highlights, let's say—the debacles, the misdemeanours and the general mismanagement of Australia's key technological systems and infrastructure. These failures are the legacy of a failed communications minister who lurched on to become a disappointment of a Prime Minister. First up, there is the ghoul in the cupboard, the National Broadband Network. I'm not sure I need to say anymore, particularly since I've spoken on this issue tonight already. The name alone strikes fear, dismay and no small measure of depression into the hearts of all Australians.

Then there are the breaches, the leaks and the hacks. It seems that this government is a veritable colander when it comes to keeping safe the private information of Australians. Whether it be Medicare, or private contractors or the protection of the anonymity of journalists—or, whoops, here we go, back to Medicare breaches again—the government has shown time and time again that it cannot be trusted to keep safe the data of the Australian people. And then of course we wander on to data retention—that grand scheme and attempt to violate the human right to privacy and collect even more personal information to be breached in the future—because, you know, if a bucket is leaking, why not fill it up? Then, of course, we move on to the government's quite astonishingly hypocritical attempts to break into the encrypted data space, when every single member of parliament in this room and also absent has got, I would bet my entire parliamentary salary for the rest of my time in this place, an encrypted application upon their phone for the use of messaging their colleagues. How do we think that these spills and other political manoeuvrings take place? They certainly don't take place in non-encrypted spaces.

Finally, to complete this rather Halloweenesque meander, I'd like to bring the Senate's attention to a program under development for the purposes of facial recognition which has been named 'The Capability' by this government. I'm not sure whether there was somebody in a department somewhere who is a fan of The Twilight Zone or simply enjoys scaring the living hell out of anyone in the digital rights space, but it sure sends a cold shiver down my spine when I think about what it might be like to try to protect your biometric data under this government. Good luck, I would say to anybody, in getting issued with a new face once this system has inevitably been hacked. Much like the National Broadband Network, this government is generally disconnected, outdated, unreliable, slow and lacking in fibre both morally and otherwise. (Time expired)