DETAILS of every phone call, email and internet page visited in Australia will be stored for at least two years under the Federal Government’s next round of counter-terror laws.

But the Coalition is bracing for a political battle over the changes after Labor warned they could breach privacy and drive up the cost of internet usage.

New laws tabled in Parliament will force telecommunications companies to store metadata that can be used to crack down on terrorist attacks, foreign espionage and child pornography rings.

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People who download pirated movies or music could also be prosecuted more easily. The Government will compensate telecommunication companies but is still to decide how much it will cost.

A leaked submission on the Bill from Attorney-General George Brandis reveals the Government fears opponents will label the cost an “internet tax” that will be passed on to consumers.

The submission says the change is not a “tax” but that “costs should also not be the reason that the safety of Australians is comprised”.

The laws cover metadata, which Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull described as “information about a communication but not its content”. This could include details of internet service providers, the parties to communications and the time and length of the communication.

“Access to metadata plays a central role in almost every counter-terrorism, counter-espionage, cybersecurity, organised crime investigation,” Mr Turnbull told parliament.

“It is also used in almost all serious criminal investigations, including investigations into murder, serious sexual assaults, drug trafficking and kidnapping.”

Mr Turnbull insisted the content of emails and phone calls or a person’s internet browsing history would not be stored and mobile devices cannot be used to track people for surveillance.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mark Colvin and ASIO chief Duncan Lewis said agencies could already access metadata.

But both warned data could be lost if telecommunications companies were not forced to store it for at least two years.

The AFP chief said the new laws could be used to target people who download or share movies and music in breach of copyright. The laws were introduced to Parliament yesterday after an urgent Coalition party room meeting to sign off on them.

“Illegal downloads … cyber crimes, cyber security, all these matters, our ability to investigate them is absolutely pinned to our ability to retrieve and use metadata,” Mr Colvin said.

Several MPs including George Christensen and Cory Bernardi raised concerns in the meeting ranging from whether the laws could breach privacy and about the cost involved.

The Opposition called for the government to defer debate on the bills until next year, warning it could allow breaches of privacy and could increase costs for consumers.

“It has privacy implications and could also potentially increase the cost of internet bills,” Shadow Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement.

“It therefore needs to be subject to robust scrutiny over months not weeks.”

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam vowed to fight the bill that he described as “an outrageous attack on Australians’ fundamental right to privacy”.

Senator Brandis also played down concerns journalists would be targeted under provisions of anti-terror laws that allow for up to 10 years jail for disclosure of “special intelligence operations”.

After a backlash from media companies including News Corp Australia, the publisher of The Courier-Mail, Senator Brandis said he would give a direction to the Commonwealth DPP that he must personally approve any prosecution of a journalist, which he said would be a “powerful, practical safeguard against journalists being prosecuted for reporting on terrorist activities.”

News Corp group editorial director Campbell Reid said easy amendments could still be made to ensure legitimate media organisations did not break the law.