Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the bill and I'm pleased to do so for this bill that's been introduced by the shadow minister for home affairs. Like many bills which I've spoken in support of in this 47th Parliament, this bill is coalition policy which, because of the effluxion of time, was unable to be passed in the 46th Parliament. Last year, the coalition launched our ransomware action plan, a practical response to the menace of ransomware attacks which affect Australian families and their businesses and, indeed, communities the world over.

Technology is advancing beyond measure, and both organised crime and sophisticated state actors continue to wreak havoc with our global rules based order. It is essential that the Australian government do what it takes to protect our critical infrastructure.

Ransomware attacks have affected some of our most important services on the Sunshine Coast—and I'm referring to, for example, Uniting Care's Buderim Private Hospital, which is just a stone's throw from my electorate. We are seeing attacks on construction, health care, manufacturing and media. And just last week there was an attack, which we're all aware of, on Optus and its nine million Australian customers.

One in three organisations around the world were affected by ransomware attacks in 2021, costing the global economy over $30.3 billion. This is tipped to rise to $402 billion by 2031. And Australia is not immune, with an estimated cost of as much as $2.59 billion lost each year.

It's vital that our law enforcement agencies are empowered to detect, disrupt and deter cybercriminals and foreign state actors who seek to do us harm. That is why the coalition introduced this bill, and, but for the lack of time, it might well have already been law. I want to congratulate the shadow home affairs minister on this initiative—on going onto the front foot in the absence of a credible, or in fact any, bill from the government. This is a bill that, as the shadow minister has pointed out, was introduced in the last parliament. It's ready to go. This is a bill that, for all intents and purposes, the government were prepared to accept and work with us on, in a bipartisan manner. Well, they haven't taken the initiative. The opposition have, at the behest of the shadow home affairs minister. Now, the government—having essentially agreed to the bill's contents whilst they were in opposition—have nowhere to go. This a bill that they should be supporting, and it will be very telling whether they stand up in this place and support this comprehensive bill.

This bill is not going to fix everything—as the shadow minister said, it is just one step in the right direction. But I urge all members to support this bill and call on the government to build on our work, both in defence and in security. Don't dismantle what we are seeking to build for the benefit of Australians and the Australian community and Australian businesses.

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