ASIO handed powers to share spy data

Australia's chief spy agency, the Australian Security and Intelligence Agency (ASIO), has been handed new powers to share wiretaps and grill citizens on behalf of agencies without suspicion of crime.

(Looking for clues image by Casey Fleser, CC2.0)

The powers reside under the Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010, reintroduced to parliament after last year's federal election, and passed in Senate this morning.

Amendments introduced by the Greens to force ASIO to disclose certain interception details in its annual report were dumped due to concerns about national security.

The Bill means ASIO will be able to conduct telecommunications intercepts and interviews for agencies that are in the "national interest", a concept which is undefined. Officers may not need to disclose they are working on behalf of ASIO if it is similarly in the interest of security.

Furious Greens Senator Scott Ludlam berated the Federal Government and Opposition for rubber-stamping the Bill.

"The Coalition didn't bother to ask a single question of [the government] on the way through this whole debate, it was left to the Australia Greens, and now we're about to vote to deny ourselves access to that information, which I think is shameful," Ludlam said in the moments before the amendment was voted down.

"I think [the Bill] will greatly expand [ASIO's] operations well outside the area for which it was establish, which I think is something we'll regret."

Labor Senator for Victoria Jacinta Collins said the Greens amendment would expose ASIO "operational details".

"The level of detail proposed in the Greens amendment would get into operational details and would not be appropriate for inclusion in the unclassified annual report," Collins said.

"Details such as the name of organisations requesting assistance and the purpose would reveal operational details about the activities, practice and methods of intelligence agencies."

She said ASIO will provide "general details" of its operations under existing requirements.

Oversight of ASIO's functions would be left to Attorney-General Robert McClelland and ASIO director general David Irvine.

The new powers allow ASIO to bypass police and provide intelligence directly to agencies. Intelligence may pertain to a raft of issues, meaning the spy agency could provide data on taxation fraud to the Australian Taxation Office, rather than to police authorities.

ASIO will also be able to hand intelligence on non-criminal matters to a broader scope of agencies under the auspices of the "national interest".

Collins said the new powers do not mean ASIO will be a "force for hire" and it "will not be waiting around for requests" for interception by agencies.

Rather, she said it will improve information sharing and provide agencies with better access to ASIO experts.

Queensland Liberal Senator George Brandis said the integrity of ASIO should not be questioned.

"The intention of the Bill is not authorise operations outside of the agency's charters, but to commit cooperation for limited purposes so to engage interoperability and approved joint activities requiring information sharing," Brandis said.

"I'm assured the agencies do not want to trespass outside their statutory limitations, rather to use their specialist skills towards a common purpose. There is no reason to doubt the desirability of that outcome or the integrity of the offices."