Channel
9 News online,
22 November 2018:
Scott Morrison insists
police need immediate access to encrypted messages to stop future terror
attacks.
The prime minister says
new laws giving police access to the messages must pass federal parliament in
the final sitting fortnight of the year, after three men charged with plotting
a terror attack in Melbourne were accused of using encrypted communications.
"Our police, our
agencies need these powers now," Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney on
Thursday.
"I would insist on
seeing them passed before the end of the next sitting fortnight."
He said the foiled
Melbourne plot showed it was incredibly important for authorities to have
powers to intercept encrypted messages on apps like WhatsApp.
Mr Morrison urged the
committee examining the laws to wind-up its review as soon as possible so the
laws can be passed.
The Liberal-chaired
committee has scheduled three public hearings on the bill, with the final one
set for December 4 - two days before parliament rises for the year.
To pass the encryption
legislation before then, the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security would
likely have to bring forward or abandon the hearings.
The next
Encryption Bill public hearings are scheduled for 27 November, 30 November and
4 December 2018. In addition to evidence from the full five hearings there are
87 submissions the Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security needs to evaluate before
writing its report to Parliament.
Both Prime
Minster Scott Morrison and Home
Affairs Minister Peter Dutton are
reportedly applying pressure to the Joint Committee to throw out standard
parliamentary practice and deliver its report no later than 3 December.
It appears
that both theses hard-right politicians are determined to kill off democratic
processes whenever they see an opportunity to do so.
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