Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

There was that old ‘national interest’ again, which we have just established is not defined anywhere in ASIO’s act or anywhere else. I will move the amendment shortly because I am not sure how much further it is going to possible to get with this. I have got two further questions. One of them relates to the origin of this reform, if you could call it that. Was this proposed by ASIO? Did it come from within these agencies or has there been a demonstrated need from outside the intelligence community, from the kind of other state and Commonwealth authorities that we have spoken of, for the powers of surveillance by clandestine security agencies? I am just wondering what the origins of this bill in fact were.