Rejected by the Senate yesterday, the Telecommunications Interception Legislation Amendment Bill 2002 was part of a collection of bills titled the Security Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill 2002 [No.2].
Civil liberties group Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has persistently campaigned against the amendments, alongside other groups. EFA has consistently maintained that the Government would gain power to read e-mail, SMS and voicemail messages without a warrant if the Bill was passed.
Yesterday the Government joined opponents of the Bill in voting against the amendments to the telecommunications interception laws.
Despite declaring the Government's decision a victory for privacy, civil liberties groups have sent clear indications that the Government won't drop its campaign to pass the legislation.
Cameron Murphy, spokesperson for the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, said that if the decision could be called a victory, it was only for round one.
"What I'd hate to see is [laws] being introduced with the same objectives in a different form," Murphy said.
EFA believes the Government will simply re-introduce the Bill during the spring sittings of Parliament.
"The Government failed to achieve passage of the amendment in a package of extremely controversial bills. They may hope no-one will be paying close attention next time around," Graham said.
