Senate debates Bills

National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill 2018, Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2018; In Committee


Zed Seselja

Zed Seselja ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation

11:00 am

Professor Williams criticised the definition of 'national security' for being 'uncertain and overbroad'. The government rejects this. This isn't correct. Espionage offences currently refer to 'security and defence of Australia', with no definition. In this bill, this term is replaced by 'national security', which is in turn exhaustively defined in a way that is consistent with definitions in other longstanding acts, including the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 and the National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act 2004.

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