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

Thank you, Senator Brandis, for that response. No, I am using the word 'delegate' in terms of the fact of the fact that ASIO is able to delegate its powers, apparently a very wide range of powers, to an affiliate that is newly defined in schedule 1, item 61. My question is about the degree to which ASIO is already empowered to delegate its responsibilities or its authorities to third parties or whether this is a completely new power. What it looks like to me, and the way the scrutiny of bills committee has identified it, is it will extend to these ASIO affiliates an extraordinary range of intrusive and coercive powers. What I am trying to do before I get to the substance of the way that this amendment will operate is get a sense of the status quo that prevails at the moment as far as delegating ASIO's powers away.