News coverage of the Albanese government’s activities this week quite rightly focused on that big-ticket item, the climate change legislation. But there were still some things of interest to our cyber-digital lens, plus some high-speed rail.
Here’s what I’ve noticed this week.
- The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (AFP Powers and Other Matters) Bill 2022 was introduced in the House of Reps. According to the Explanatory Memorandum, “This Bill would extend for 12 months the following Australian Federal Police (AFP) counter-terrorism powers that are scheduled to sunset on 7 December 2022: the stop, search and seizure powers in Division 3A of Part IAA of the Crimes Act 1914 (Crimes Act); the control order regime in Division 104 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Criminal Code), and the preventative detention order regime in Division 105 of the Criminal Code.”
- Also introduced, the High Speed Rail Authority Bill 2022. This was an election promise. It’s interesting to see the government scheduling one big-ticket item each week while still progressing other bits and pieces.
- The government response (PDF) to the PJCIS Inquiry into Extremist Movements and Radicalism in Australia was tabled in the Senate.
- From the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Monitoring agency access to stored communications and telecommunications data under Chapters 3 and 4 of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021. Key points include that police were self-stamping warrants and using unauthorised magistrates to approve warrants.
- The Digital Transformation Agency tried to get the public service to create a new and much higher-paid salary range for its technical specialists but the Australian Public Service Commission said no. Still, gotta ask, right?
Please let me know if I’ve missed anything, or if there’s any specific items you’d like me to follow.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Parliament has been suspended for a fortnight. The next post in this series will be published on the Saturday after this mourning period ends.