Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

Senator SHOEBRIDGE (New South Wales) (11:50): It's only the United States that we have an arrangement with—I see you nodding. Senator Chisholm: Correct. Senator SHOEBRIDGE: In fact, I even heard, 'Correct.' I won't repeat what I said in the second reading contribution, but I will just make it very clear that the Australian Greens do not trust the current United States administration.

We believe the Trump administration is erratic and dangerous. We see it weaponising and politicising its criminal justice system, and we see the erosion of basic rights within the United States in the democratic and legal systems happening at pace. We are deeply concerned that, while that is happening, the Albanese Labor government is proposing to significantly increase the amount of information that they are willing to give to the United States about Australian private citizens that has been obtained without their consent and without their knowledge using existing surveillance laws.

We are deeply concerned that the proposal here will greatly broaden the amount of personal data that can be shared with the United States, including when the personal data is of a person who is not the target of an investigation, and we rely upon the conclusions of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights to confirm those concerns. We think it is reckless and dangerous to be providing such a large, expanded amount of secretly obtained surveillance data from Australian citizens who are not the target of an investigation to the Trump administration at this point, and that is why we moved this amendment to try and remove schedule 4 of the bill.