Secrecy Provisions Amendment (Sunsetting Provision) Bill 2026

Senator COLLINS (New South Wales—Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate) (11:25): I rise in support of the Secrecy Provisions Amendment (Sunsetting Provision) Bill 2026. The bill makes a single technical amendment to the Criminal Code Act 1995. It extends the sunsetting date of section 122.4 by six months from 29 June 2026 to 29 December 2026.

It does not expand, alter or restrict the existing operation of the provision in any way. It simply maintains the current legal position while parliament considers the government's broader secrecy law reforms. While I support this bill, as does the coalition, it stands as a telling illustration of a government that is reactive rather than proactive.

This is legislation on the run. Labor have not put together their actual secrecy bill. Instead, they drip feed these bills to limp legislation along until they've sorted it out.

And this is not the product of a considered and forward-looking approach to the present and future architecture of our secrecy offences regime. Instead, this is Labor's piecemeal approach to national security. This is now the third occasion on which parliament has been asked to extend the operation of section 122.4 because a broader program of reform remains incomplete.

We are again confronted with a temporary measure necessitated by the government's failure to finalise its own legislative agenda in a timely and coherent manner. The government has introduced a separate bill which proposes to repeal and reshape elements of the secrecy framework. That legislation raises serious questions.

It is before the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee and is undergoing appropriate scrutiny. The stakeholders have raised concerns that warrant careful and methodical consideration, and the coalition will not approach those reforms with haste or complacency. But, while that scrutiny proceeds, the parliament cannot ignore the immediate consequences of allowing section 122.4 to lapse on 29 June 2026.

The ramifications of that outcome are serious. There would be a clear gap in criminal liability in relation to breaches of a broad range of Commonwealth secrecy obligations. Information entrusted to government could be disclosed without the application of a general offence.

Agencies would face uncertainty as to the enforceability of their secrecy frameworks, and the integrity of Commonwealth information-handling would be diminished. This is not an abstract concern. The information at stake includes health records and taxation information.

It includes personal data provided by Australians who rightly expect it to be safeguarded. It includes national security and commercial information. These are not trivial matters, and they go to the heart of public trust in the Commonwealth.

This bill performs a necessary function. It preserves the existing provision while parliament undertakes the more complex task of determining the future shape of the secrecy regime. It ensures continuity and stability in the law while that larger debate proceeds.

The broader reforms deserve careful scrutiny, and, as we saw last week with this taxing Labor government, when they legislate in haste and without a mandate, Australians are likely to suffer. An example of this is Labor's new widow tax, where a widow would be given a tax bill along with a death certificate under the Albanese Labor government. The coalition, of course, will clean up that mess on our return to government, and we are vigilant in holding this government to account on other legislation, such as this very important piece.

The coalition supports a continuation of this secrecy offence and will vote for its passage because it aligns with a longstanding and principled position. We have always supported strong protections for sensitive Commonwealth information, but we have also insisted that those protections be proportionate, workable and subject to proper parliamentary oversight.

This extension reflects that balance. It preserves necessary safeguards while allowing parliament to undertake the methodical scrutiny that significant legal reform demands. There is also an undeniable nexus between secrecy provisions and the broader national security settings of this country.

These laws are not peripheral; they are integral to the framework that enables government to operate securely, intelligence agencies to function effectively and sensitive operations to be conducted without compromise. The coalition has consistently recognised that reality. We are the party of national security.

We have demonstrated, over many years, a resolute commitment to maintaining the integrity of Australia's defence capabilities and intelligence architecture. Only the coalition can be trusted to steward these responsibilities with the requisite seriousness. Under the next coalition government, Australia's national security settings, from defence capability through to security intelligence and foreign intelligence, will be coherent, robust and properly integrated.

Australians will be safer, because the systems that protect them will be designed with clarity and maintained with vigilance by a government that understands the threats and acts accordingly. This bill and broader coalition national security policy are at the heart of protecting Australians' way of life. At the next election, only the coalition is the clear choice to deliver that, as we have for decades.

I commend the bill to the Senate.