Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I wonder if, in that respect, whether it includes a blogger because we have heard on several occasions from this government, including from the minister, about the transformative role of the internet in journalism. In many respects I agree with the minister. There are now many people who would say they are performing activities as journalists, which are similar to the functions that used to be carried out by journalists, but they may not be in the employ of a media organisation. They may be doing freelance work. It might be that they are in the employ of someone else, but that someone is not considered to be a traditional media organisation.

A very real question will now arise because although, historically, we might know what a journalist is—yes; it is an English word and I hope most of the words in this set of amendments are English words—and it has been clear, historically, what a journalist is. But there is now a very real question in the context of a bill about what happens on the internet. In the context of a bill that is about surveillance of metadata, surely it is something that ought to have been considered in that context—whether people who do things online as bloggers, and the like, count as journalists. That has certainly that has been agitated for more broadly. It is certainly something that has been raised by journalists, amongst others. I do not think that it is at all fanciful to ask the question about whether someone who is publishing solely online in the form of a blog, and who might not be in the employ of someone else, would count as a journalist. I wonder whether that has been given any thought in the preparation of this, or whether being a journalist is perhaps comparable to being in the MEAA, for example.

I ask the minister to explain with respect to bloggers in particular. Will bloggers be counted as journalists for the purposes of this? If they are not, what that means is apparent—the full force of this legislation applies to a blogger. A blogger is someone who would be conducting most of their activity online and, you would argue in many respects, most of their journalism. They would be doing that online, so a blogger is certainly someone who wants to maintain the security and privacy of their communications with others in same way as a journalist would.

They are, in fact, less likely to be in the same vein as those the member of Denison referred to, who you would have a phone call with and communicate with by the old means. They are much more likely to be conducting their activities online and, as such, are more likely to be caught within the remit of this legislation. For them, it is probably even more important that they be covered. Given that these amendments have been moved apparently with some significant thought and preparation—even though we have not had the courtesy of seeing them in this parliament and being able to consider them for any extended period of time—surely this question of online-only journalism ought to have been considered. It is something that has been raised in the public debates. If the minister's response is, 'Some of these issues have been canvassed publicly over several years, so surely we are in a position to move on'—well, this is something that has been canvassed in the years gone by, and especially online. I ask the minister the simple question: does a blogger count as a journalist?

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