Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 will amend the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018 ('the FITS Act') and the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Act 2018 ('the NSLA Act').

This Bill is intended to ensure that the registration scheme set up under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act2018 will be fully robust and operational in time for the coming federal election.

The FITS Act

When the FITS Act commences, it will establish a registration scheme for persons undertaking certain activities on behalf of foreign governments, foreign government related entities, foreign political organisations and foreign government related individuals.

The Secretary of the department administering the scheme will be required to publish, on a website, certain information about such persons.

The NSLA Act

Under the NSLA Act, persons with existing arrangements that will make them liable to register under the FITS Act once it commences are granted a 6 month grace period within which to register.

Ordinarily, the FITS Act would require persons who are liable to register to do this within 14 days of this liability arising.

The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Legislation Amendment Bill 2018

This Bill will effect two key changes.

First, the Bill will require historical information to continue to be published about persons registered under the FITS Act after they cease to be registered. This will ensure that people can access information about both past and present instances of foreign influence registered under the FITS Act scheme.

Second, the Bill will amend the 6 month grace period currently granted under the NSLA Act.

The 6 month grace period currently granted under the NSLA Act effectively excuses certain people who will be liable to register once the FITS Act commences from having to do so before the upcoming federal election if it takes place in the first half of 2019.

The grace period granted under the NSLA Act will be shortened to a 3 month period which will be further subject to the issuing of election writs. If election writs for either House of Parliament are issued before the end of this 3 month period, persons who would otherwise have been entitled to the grace period will have to register within 14 days of the issuing of the writs.

This will ensure, consistently with the FITS Act's original intention, that the FITS Act scheme is fully operational in time for the next election.

Conclusion

The provisions in this Bill will better give effect to the FITS Act's underlying purpose, which is to ensure transparency with respect to foreign influence in Australia's governmental and political processes.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Legislation Amendment Bill 2018. This bill is an amendment to the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018, the FITS Act; and the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Act 2018, otherwise known as the EFI Act, which both passed through the parliament in June of 2018. The FITS Act creates a registration scheme for persons undertaking certain activities on behalf of foreign governments, for foreign government related entities, foreign political organisations and foreign government related individuals. The EFI Act, which deals with overlapping subject matter, stipulates that persons who have existing arrangements, once the scheme commences, have a six-month grace period before they are expected to comply.

The government has announced that the registration scheme is due to come into effect on 10 December this year. The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018 makes two major changes to these existing arrangements. It amends the EFI Act to shorten the grace period for compliance for those parties with existing arrangements from six months to three months. It also stipulates that, if writs for a federal election are issued within that three-month period, parties will only have 14 days to comply. It amends the FITS Act to stipulate that past registrations will still be available publicly and searchable on the internet, not just current registrations. Without this change, past affiliations or arrangements with foreign political organisations or foreign government related individuals will disappear from public view once they expire.

The first change is designed to account for the expected timing of an upcoming federal election—whenever that may be. With the scheme coming into effect on 10 December 2018, if the six-month grace period were not shortened, registration obligations would not come into effect until June 2019, after the election. With the proposed change they would come into effect in March 2019. The second change appears to be an oversight by the government in the original bill, which is, of course, regrettable. It's clearly in the public interest for past associations with foreign political organisations or foreign government related entities to be on the public record.

These amendments should perhaps be a sign to the government that taking the time to make good law, when it comes to national security, is a good thing—a lesson that, apparently, they have not learned. Though not ideal, the committee process for both the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill and the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill was cooperative and productive. The committee report on the latter bill contained more than 60 recommendations—the most relating to any bill that has ever been before that committee. It shows you, perhaps, the magnitude and the difficulty of the work that this committee does on a regular basis.

Labor supports this bill, as it is an extension of support for the original bill. We supported the original Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018 and the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Act 2018 on the basis that foreign interference in our political system, if it is malign, is unacceptable, and, even if it's benign, it should nevertheless be transparent. Both changes are technical rather than substantive. While we regret that these matters were not dealt with in the original legislation, we support those amendments now.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Legislation Amendment Bill 2018, which the Greens will be supporting. The main effect of this bill will be to expand the scope of the information to be made publicly available with regard to those registered under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act registration scheme. The bill will also reduce the grace period for registration by those with registerable arrangements at the commencement of the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act—which is 10 December 2018—from six months to the earlier of three months from commencement or 14 days from the issue of election writs. The Attorney-General, in his second reading speech on this bill, stated that the six-month grace period currently granted under the NSLA act effectively excuses certain people who will be liable to register once the FITS Act commences from having to do so before the next federal election if it takes place in the first half of 2019, which you would think is just about a certainty as we stand here today.

The Australian Greens do have concerns about foreign influence, and, if you want to understand the impacts of foreign influences on some of our world's largest and most important democracies, senators need look no further than the Brexit vote in the UK and the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States. In both of those votes, there was significant foreign influence, and, in both of those cases, the foreign influence included, but was probably not limited to, the state of Russia. We hold grave concerns about foreign influence in Australia's democracy. There have been repeated warnings from security agencies such as ASIO of attempts by foreign governments to influence our democracy. Certainly, one foreign government that we hold significant concerns about—a government which has attempted, and is undoubtedly attempting, to influence our democracy—is the government of China, with which both the LNP and the ALP have very close ties. Those ties are to the detriment of the independence of our democracy. So we will be supporting this bill because, even though the measures contained in it are quite small steps, we believe they do step us down the road towards a more robust protection of our democracy from interference and influence by foreign governments.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank senators for their contributions to this bill. The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 will ensure that the registration scheme set up under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018 will be fully operational in time for the upcoming election. It was always intended that historical information about persons registered under the FITS Act should continue to be published after their registration ceases. The bill will ensure that this will occur. It was also always intended that the FITS Act scheme would be fully operational in time for the next election. This bill will make sure of this.

The provisions in this bill will better give effect to the FITS Act's underlying purpose, which is to ensure transparency with respect to foreign influence in Australia's governmental and political processes. The bill will also ensure that the public can access information, both past and present instances, on foreign influence registered under the FITS Act, improving transparency for all elections to come. It's for all of these reasons that I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.