"I'd ask for a sense of responsibility, a sense of national interest, as well as simply commercial interest," he said.

He was speaking after Attorney-General George Brandis introduced to Parliament legislation to update and expand the powers of ASIO to carry out surveillance and operations.

The proposed laws include a section that would provide legal immunity to ASIO officers on certain types of operations where they might have to break the law, say by going undercover and training with a terrorist group.

Included in that section are new offences that carry five-year or 10-year jail sentences for anyone who discloses information about such operations without authorisation - raising the prospect that journalists could be jailed for publishing leaked material. The 10-year penalty would be applied if the disclosure endangers lives or operations.

Such gag provisions already exist for police officers carrying out such special operations under the Crimes Act. But the Crimes Act includes exemptions - for example disclosing information to an oversight body such as the Ombudsman or Integrity Commissioner.