Mr McCLELLAND (Attorney-General) (10:37 AM) —in reply—I would like to thank the member for Werriwa for his contribution to the debate. He has taken a consistent interest in law enforcement and security matters generally and brings to the federal parliament considerable expertise in this area. The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2008 is important in maintaining the capacity for stipulated agencies to protect their networks for an additional 18 months. This will provide the necessary time for the government to consult widely on a more permanent legislative solution. This solution needs to be focused on current network technologies and ensure that network operators have the legal capacity to protect their networks and provide a proper degree of privacy protection for users of that network. In many ways, the exercise that is being held this week, Cyber Storm 2, which was kicked off yesterday, I think, underlines the need for an overhaul of systems generally, both public and private.

The technical amendments to the interception regime will improve, clarify and simplify the operation of the T(I)A Act. These include removing several provisions that became redundant when certain functions were transferred from the Australian Federal Police to the Attorney-General’s Department, following the passage of the Telecommunications (Interception) Amendment Act 2006. As such, this bill is a further step in the ongoing modernisation of Australia’s laws for accessing telecommunications information for law enforcement or national security purposes. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.