Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the chamber. I just want to put some notes on the record because Senator Xenophon had not moved this second reading amendment at the time I made my contribution earlier in the debate.

The Australian Greens will support Senator Xenophon's amendment because he is obviously seeking to establish an oversight structure that does not exist in Australia at this time. We support it with some reluctance, obviously, as citing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in the United States, which is effectively a court that operates entirely in secret, is not a particularly good template or model for independent oversight of intelligence agencies. But, nonetheless, we understand Senator Xenophon's intention and that it is simply one example of an entity that is cited and the Australian Greens would support the intention of the amendment, even if we do not believe that the FISC necessarily provides the best working model for open, public oversight, which we do agree that Australia needs.