A push to increase parliamentary oversight of intelligence agencies has been met with resistance from a handful of government agencies, but the senator behind the bill said it's a decision for parliament and not the bureaucracy.
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The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security would be given the power to review the operations of intelligence agencies such as ASIO, the Australian Signals Directorate and the Office of National Assessments under the bill, an extension of current powers to review administration and expenditure.
It hasn't been warmly welcomed in submissions from various government agencies, with a range of warnings against giving members of parliament such powers.
Oversight of operational activities by the parliamentary committee isn't required, according to Prime Minister and Cabinet, whose submission largely quoted from last year's independent intelligence review. The review found extending the committee's oversight powers was "not required to ensure agencies are operating effectively, legally and with propriety".
Intelligence agencies were best investigated by the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, the independent review found, with the Australian system different to some Five Eyes partners (the United States, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom), where congressional or parliamentary oversight of intelligence exists.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, while acknowledging that it is not a member of the national intelligence community, said it considers "the fundamental architecture of intelligence oversight in Australia is sound".
Protecting intelligence gained from foreign countries and managing the relationships around the sharing of intelligence needs to be considered, the foreign affairs department warned.
"Although the proposed bill retains existing prohibitions on reviewing information provided by a foreign government where that government does not consent to the disclosure of the information, extending PJCIS examination and functions requires special care to ensure that Australia's international obligations and foreign relations interests are appropriately protected," James Larsen, acting deputy secretary for the International Security, Humanitarian and Consular Group said.
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, Margaret Stone, could be required under the bill to review ministerial decisions on whether an intelligence operation is ongoing and shouldn't be investigated by the committee due to national security concerns.
"There is a risk that the proposed function could place the Inspector-General in a difficult position by requiring her to arbitrate disputes between the Parliament and the Executive, and may expose her office to the perception of political partisanship in the making of decisions," Ms Stone said in her submission.
"Even if such criticisms were unfounded, the perception of political partisanship has the potential to undermine public confidence in the independence of the office. More generally, proposals to confer any kind of conclusive (rather than advisory) decision-making function on the IGIS raise difficult questions about oversight or review of those decisions."
The senator behind the bill, Centre Alliance's Rex Patrick said he was open to amendments, but that the decision was one for parliament.
"The bureaucracy has responded as I might have expected," Senator Patrick said.
"In no way take away from this anything but my absolute confidence in their professionalism and the way in which they approach their tasks but this bill is not something that is decided by bureaucrats. It's a bill about the parliament and its oversight functions and it basically involves a political decision not a bureaucratic decision."
"That's not to say that their submissions aren't welcomed and and that their submissions don't contribute, but what I've done is I've put up an idea that helps us find a way forward."
Senator Patrick believes there's no reason for parliament to delay making a decision to wait for former ASIO boss Denis Richardson to review national security and intelligence legislation, which is expected to take 18 months. As the progress of private member's bills is at the discretion of the government, Senator Patrick is realistic about the prospect of this bill being passed, but wants the inquiry process to increase the chance of this bill or similar being made law in the future.
Extra powers for the parliamentary committee aren't a new idea, with a similar private members bill from Labor's Penny Wong introduced to the Senate in 2015. It continued work by former senator John Faulkner and also seeks to give the committe the power to conduct its own inquries.
