Senator BROWN (5:56 PM) —I had another question about private businesses and individuals, which the minister might answer. But, before he does, I want to disagree with what he has had to say. My first issue goes to intercepting live communication—that is, a telephone conversation—and the second goes to stored information and the ability to fish through potentially hundreds of such live communications, which are then stored on the shelf. So the reach into the private affairs of individuals is far greater than being able to connect into a single telephone conversation and therefore needs far greater care. But what is happening here is that the barrier is being lowered, not increased.

What is more, when it comes to this sort of investigation with modern technology, the citizen has no way of knowing that it is occurring. If somebody searches your house for the document on your desk that the minister was taking about, there is a fair chance you will find out about it. But, in the case of a document being stored electronically and then a search being made, you have no way of knowing that that is occurring, that it will occur or that it has occurred, and therefore we need to be much more vigilant against it.

The requirement that should be in place here is at the very lowest level. I ask the minister again: will these powers be limited to the investigation of serious crime, including terrorism? Is it possible, through civil procedures or through any other manner, to exclude private businesses and individuals from gaining access to this ability to rake through stored communications on Australian citizens?