Last week, the Government introduced the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify And Disrupt) Bill. It gives security agencies massive new powers to access data on people’s computers and devices, and they are trying to rush it through Parliament.
This Bill creates three new types of warrants that would allow officers to modify, add, copy or delete information on people’s devices, and in some cases, take over people’s accounts.
As always, Peter Dutton is using the threat of terrorism and the most serious offences imaginable to scare people into accepting this legislation, but in reality the thresholds are set at a much lower level.
To obtain a data disruption warrant, the AFP or ACIC would need to show that it was necessary to frustrate an offence carrying a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment.
This is a very low threshold, and would catch things like minor drug offences and even breaches of the Copyright Act. This means that security agencies could potentially covertly access people’s devices on the basis that they contain unlicensed versions of movies or songs.
We could flesh all of these issues out if the Parliament was at least given the opportunity to scrutinise this Bill through the committee process, but we have been denied that chance.
These laws are poorly drafted, rushed and typically for this government, show a complete disregard for people’s basic rights like privacy.
Over the last 20 years, well over 200 pieces of legislation which curtail fundamental rights and freedoms have been passed through Australian parliaments.
They are seldom wound back or even revised, and the net result has been a severe reduction in our freedoms and liberties. It’s time for a Charter of Rights to protect the things we value.
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So as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg delivers his budget speech, and outlines the Liberals’ plans to make Australia less fair and the climate crisis worse, here’s a helpful translation of his speech.
Frydenberg: “Australians have been tested like never before. Flood, drought, fires, and a global pandemic.”
Translation: “Floods, droughts and fires are made worse by the climate emergency, which we are actively making worse by doubling down on coal and gas.”
Frydenberg: “In the space of just one month, more than one million Australians lost their jobs or saw their working hours reduced to zero.”
Translation: “We have already cut support for most of these people and this budget has bugger all to help them.”
Since Labor absolutely insists on talking about the CPRS vote in 2009, rather than focusing on the present or the future, I thought I'd give them a list of some of the people they should invite to their pity party.
Firstly, former Labor MP Martin Ferguson. He thought the CPRS was great. Entirely coincidentally, Martin now works for the oil and gas industry.
Secondly, Ian Macfarlane, who was Labor's negotiating partner on the CPRS Bill. Entirely coincidentally, Ian left politics in 2016 to run the Queensland Resources Council.
So the AFP has apparently dropped its investigation into the leaking of a confidential Home Affairs briefing that was based on ASIO advice.
This was the Simon Benson story in The Australian on February 7, shortly before the Medevac Bill came before the House of Representatives.
Later that morning, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton went for his weekly interview with Ray Hadley in which the advice was openly discussed, with no mention of the fact it was classified.