The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP
Shadow Attorney-General
Member for Isaacs
The Hon. Jason Clare MP
Minister for Communications
Member for Blaxland
Proper scrutiny of proposed data retention scheme
Labor has requested that the Government defer debate on the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill until 2015 to give adequate time for a thorough consultation process to occur.
This legislation is complex and contentious. It is broader than National Security. It has privacy implications and could also potentially increase the cost of internet bills. It therefore needs to be subject to robust scrutiny over months not weeks.
The Opposition was not consulted before the introduction of the bill.
Labor is also disappointed the Government introduced the bill without first consulting with the Australian people.
In May last year the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security unanimously recommended that the Government publish an exposure draft of any legislation that proposed a mandatory data retention regime. George Brandis was a member of this committee at the time.
Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Shadow Minister for Communications Jason Clare this week wrote to Brandis calling on the Government to release an exposure draft of the data retention legislation for public consultation. The Government has rejected that.
This should be subject to robust scrutiny and the Australian public should be given every opportunity to have their say before such a proposal becomes law.
THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2014
