Major parties fail to keep step with the digital reality

Following Shadow Attorney-General George Brandis’ comments that the Liberal/National Party has not formed policy positions on mandatory data retention and copyright law[1], Pirate Party Australia calls the major parties out on their sluggishness. While these issues do not make good tabloid fodder, they cut to the heart of our modern, digitally connected society. Neither major party has taken a firm position on these issues that have an enormous impact on privacy and culture.

“With surveillance, data retention and copyright reform being significant issues at the moment, it is simply not good enough for the two major parties to drag their feet,” said Brendan Molloy, lead Pirate Party Senate candidate for NSW. “A policy set cannot be comprehensive and suitable for modern Australia if it fails to address the very real threat that data retention poses to our privacy. Given the amount of data that Australians provide over the Internet daily, protections are needed, and regardless of which party forms government after this election, we need their cards on the table now.”

“There have been massive shifts globally with regard to copyright laws, and the Australian Law Reform Commission is set to release a set of recommendations to make Australia’s copyright laws more appropriate for a digital environment. We urge both major parties to seriously consider these recommendations, rather than ignore them as was done to the Copyright Law Review Committee in 1996.”

Last year, the Attorney-General’s Department released a discussion paper proposing numerous reforms to national security and intelligence laws. The ‘National Security Inquiry’ proposed, among other things, the requirement for all telecommunications service providers to retain the communications data for all subscribers for a period of two years, and would include the collection of ‘the text or substance of emails, SMS messages, phone calls or photos and documents sent over the Internet'[2]. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security that considered the discussion paper was widely criticised for failing to adequately consult with stakeholders and ignored the overwhelming opposition to data retention, referring the matter back to the Government.

Meanwhile, the Attorney-General’s Department’s track record of continued secretive meetings with representatives from the telecommunications and copyright industries[3][4] is of ongoing concern. These meetings had been occurring for more than a year[5] and Pirate Party Australia called numerous times for transparency and greater participation in the negotiations.

“Copyright is a very divisive issue, however it is apparent that there is a need for it to be reformed to remain relevant in the digital era,” Mr Molloy continued. “Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, they must be transparent and must involve participation from interested stakeholders. Copyright is a two-way street: it serves to benefit society just as much as the copyright holders, and it is simply not good enough to exclude consumer and activist groups from the talks.”

“Failing to take a position on these issues means that choosing between the major parties is at best a gamble with respect to digital rights and liberties. In contrast to the campaign showboating of the major parties, Pirate Party Australia maintains a strong and clear commitment to protecting the rights of all Australians when it comes to privacy, and to reforming copyright to make it fairer for a modern society[6][7].”

It is clear to Pirate Party Australia that real political debate and party policies surrounding these controversial issues is being swept under the carpet in the lead up to the election, with the leading parties preferring instead to appeal to fear and xenophobia in their zeal to win votes. This ongoing lack of leadership from either major party is demonstrated in the race between Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd, both pushing to outdo each other’s creative shirking of regional obigations surrounding the treatment of refugees seeking asylum in Australia.

[1] http://www.zdnet.com/au/no-coalition-policy-on-data-retention-copyright-infringement-7000019833/

[2] http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=pjcis/nsl2012/report/chapter%205.pdf

[3] http://www.zdnet.com/piracy-talks-set-for-thursday-1339339099/

[4] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/a-g-renews-push-to-head-off-online-piracy/story-fn4htb9o-1226580618383

[5] http://delimiter.com.au/2011/12/23/secret-piracy-talks-govt-banned-consumer-groups/

[6] https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Policies/Copyright

[7] https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Policies/Civil_Liberties