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

Senator Xenophon, the creation of the public interest advocate is a new office. It is a new level of protection in the architecture of this scheme. In relation to the second part of your question—and thank you for the courtesy of the advanced notice—I have taken some advice about the proposition that you advance: that the issue of warrants in the United States is contestable. I am advised that the proposition you put forward is incorrect. In fact, in the United States they are transitioning from one system to a different system but at the moment metadata is held by an agency; it is not retained by telecommunications companies. But when an application is made to their Attorney-General—I am told it is not called a warrant in the United States—there is no contestability at that stage.