George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, Senator Johnston, I can. Unfortunately, there are many investigations, both in Australia and overseas, that are either limited or in fact cannot proceed due to a lack of retained data.

To give you just one example, Senator Johnston, in June of last year the AFP received information from Interpol about a suspect who had made a statement online that they intended to sexually assault a baby. Interpol provided IP address details belonging to an Australian carrier. As the Australian carrier only retained data for a maximum of seven days, no results were available and the suspect was unable to be identified. No government can stand by and allow such degradation of investigative capabilities to continue. I look forward to the Senate joining me in coming days in passing this important bill.