[LINK] InnAus: Labor remembers it suckered for a Coalition Promise

[Roger Clarke]

[It's not clear whether this process will lead to much improvement in 
the appalling A&A provisions (and indeed it's not clear that anything 
less than rescission would be enough);  but I guess it's good news that 
Labor remembers that the other side of the House lied, and needs to be 
called for it.]


Labor demands an encryption fix now
DENHAM SADLER
Innovation Australia
NOVEMBER 25, 2019
https://www.innovationaus.com/2019/11/Labor-demands-an-encryption-fix-now

Federal Labor has called on the government to fix its highly 
controversial encryption legislation now instead of waiting for two 
inquiries to report back in a year.

The Assistance and Access Act was passed during a farcical last sitting 
day of 2018 with support from Labor. The legislation gave government 
agencies and law enforcement the power to compel tech companies to 
provide access to encrypted data.

When agreeing to pass the bill, the Opposition said it had secured an 
agreement from the government, through Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, 
that further amendments would be considered to the bill to meet the 
recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and 
Security (PJCIS).

But these amendments never appeared, and the Assistance and Access Bill 
has remained unchanged since it was passed.

The powers are currently the subject of two significant inquiries. The 
PJCIS is conducting its third review of the Act, while the Independent 
National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) is also investigating the 
powers.

Both of these inquiries have been delayed though, with the INSLM to 
report back by June, and the PJCIS by September.

The Coalition has to go through the motions and push back the PJCIS 
reporting date through legislation.

The bill to achieve this was debated in the lower house on Monday, with 
Labor using it as an opportunity to line up to criticise the 
government’s handling of the encryption legislation, its apparent broken 
promise, and new concerns that the powers may prevent Australia from 
securing a speedy data-sharing agreement with the US.

It was revealed in October that the encryption powers may stand in the 
way of Australia reaching a CLOUD Act agreement with the US, which would 
give law enforcement expedited access to data held by American tech 
companies.

Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus slammed the continual delays to the 
inquiries, and called on the government to move now to make the 
necessary fixes rather than wait another year.

“These processes should not get in the way of the government introducing 
legislation right now to ensure that the measures that were introduced 
by the Assistance and Access Act conform to recommendations made by the 
PJCIS in December 2018 and secondly are subject to robust, substantive 
and procedural protections,” Mr Dreyfus said in Parliament.

“Labor is ready and willing to work with the government to ensure the 
measures introduced by the Act are amended and to address any and all 
obstacles to secure the best outcome for Australian police and agencies, 
and the Australian people.”

Labor attempted to add its own amendment to the bill, raising concerns 
that the encryption powers will get in the way of the CLOUD Act, and 
calling on the government to “work proactively with Labor” on the 
necessary amendments.

The Opposition’s amendment was easily shot down, and the legislation 
facilitating the delayed reporting date for the PJCIS sailed through the 
lower house, with support from Labor.

It is a “complete and utter disgrace” that the legislation has reached 
this point unamended and the inquiries won’t be reporting back until 
late next year, Labor MP and former shadow digital economy minister Ed 
Husic said.

“Why do we need to extend this period of time when we know what all the 
flaws are now – they should be fixed now,” Mr Husic said.

“We will not as a Labor opposition give up at all on pressing the case 
that these laws need to be fixed, to ensure from a national security 
perspective that we get access to the type of data that is needed to 
prevent harm, and to make sure the Australian tech sector is not treated 
like a pariah on the world stage,” he told the Parliament.

The Labor Ministers slammed the Coalition and Senator Cormann, claiming 
they broke a promise to move a number of amendments to the legislation 
at the start of this year.

“The bill before the House represents a series of failures – a failure 
of process, a failure of bipartisanship, a failure of the Morrison 
government to keep its word and a failure of this place to legislate in 
a way that supports the growth of the Australian tech sector,” shadow 
assistant minister for cybersecurity Tim Watts said.

When Labor was originally questioning the legislation late last year, 
government ministers accused the party of putting national security at risk.

Now Labor is using this tactic against the Coalition, accusing it of 
putting national security risk by jeopardising chances of securing a 
CLOUD Act agreement.

“Their failure to do the right thing has caught up to them. Their 
failure to address those flaws in the way the PJCIS recommended they be 
fixed has led to an inability to access data because our arrangements 
won’t conform with the CLOUD Act,” Mr Husic said.

“It’s now catching up with the government. Their failure to fix that act 
has jeopardised national security.”

Shadow innovation minister Clare O’Neil said there is “no better 
example” of the Parliament’s tech problems than the passing of the 
encryption legislation.

“When we make decisions like the one that led to this bill, then we do a 
disservice to the industry we need to be building and growing, because 
that is our economic future,” Ms O’Neil said.

“And here we are almost a year on having an agreement of trust between 
the government and opposition being broken. It is incredibly disappointing.”

She said the encryption powers are the number one issue raised with her 
by the tech sector, and that it is “emblematic” of the government’s 
approach to the digital economy.

“The government has been in office for seven years and still has nothing 
to say on these matters except an incredibly damaging piece of 
legislation that they promised they’d fix but have done nothing about,” 
she said.

The Coalition declined to be involved with the debate, with its side of 
the chamber left mostly empty through the Labor ministers’ speeches.


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

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Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University