Earlier this year, the weak kneed Labor Opposition folded and backed the Coalition’s data retention plan, paving the way for the Government to pass legislation in March requiring internet providers to store customers’ metadata for two years.
Labor’s backing came despite the plan having unknown costs – a point acknowledged at the time by the Australian Greens’ Scott Ludlam, who was livid at the complete breakdown of due process:
“That is remarkable that you would bring forward a bill without knowing how much it is going to cost or how you are going to evaluate the cost,” Senator Ludlam said.
“I cannot recall in my experience the Government putting forward a bill with support from the Opposition that it didn’t know how much it would cost.”
Now it appears that the Labor Party is having second thoughts about data retention, confirming at its national conference over the weekend that it will review its support of the scheme:
An amendment to review Labor’s policy on data retention passed the conference floor on Friday, citing concerns over the range of government agencies able to access citizens’ metadata without a warrant, and concerns about journalists’ protection of sources…
“Labor wants to ensure that the types of agencies with access to the data and purposes for which the data is available are appropriate,” the amendment reads.
“We want to ensure that the current warrants scheme and the threshold conditions on warrantless access are appropriate and that freedom of the press is protected”…
“There remain ongoing concerns within the party about the way those laws currently operate and we’re seeking through that review to find a better balance between privacy concerns and of course concerns around security,” Ms Haylen said.
A government genuinely concerned with minimising red tape would not have implemented such a dubious regime. Similarly, an opposition worth their salt would have made sure that proper safeguards were in place before lending their support – a point once again acknowledged by the Greens’ Scott Ludlam:
“The time for second thoughts was in March,” Senator Ludlam said.
“I think it’s fairly typical of the Labor Party because they’re so grievously divided internally.
“The fact is they took a political decision not to be wedged by Abbott on what was perceived to be a security issue.”
As I keep arguing, data retention is an expensive waste of time given the scheme can be easily circumvented by internet users, including via a virtual private network (VPN), which are unsurprisingly experiencing booming growth in Australia.
All that this regime will achieve is an erosion of Australian’s privacy and higher internet costs (either directly via increased ISP charges and VPNs, or via higher taxes), whilst doing little to improve national security.
