Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the committee's interim advisory report, incorporating additional comments, on the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I present to the House the report, which includes the committee's recommendations for amendments to the bill. It is the culmination of more than three days of public hearings and extensive briefings from our security and law enforcement agencies, including top-secret briefings. We heard from oversight agencies, notably the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. We heard from industry stakeholders and civil society groups.

The amendments in the report include enhanced oversight provisions for the bill and the narrowing range of offences to which the bill applies. We define key terms such as 'systemic weaknesses' and, of course, we enhance scrutiny and the authorisation process. This report represents bipartisan support for this bill.

In closing, I commend the deputy chair, the member for Holt, for his support, the member for Eden-Monaro, and the coalition members on the committee, particularly Senator Jim Molan for his work, and also the secretariat for getting this done in such a short amount of time.

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