03:08

Labor’s shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus has suggested the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security could adopt a third way somewhere between Peter Dutton’s call for it to recommend passage of the bill immediately and delaying the bill with further consideration.



At the conclusion of Monday’s hearing, Dreyfus asked for a view on the feasibility of allowing agencies with counter-terror functions to gain new powers to request assistance to access telecommunications, but not other agencies.



He noted that 21 agencies have powers to intercept communications but not all have counter-terror functions, such as anti-corruption bodies.



The head of the home affairs department, Michael Pezzullo, said the change would require amendments to carve out other agencies, and the debate would likely “circle back to the same points of principle” when it considered their powers at a later date.



“If that’s what committee decides ... it’s not a complex drafting change, no,” he replied.



Liberal chair of the committee, Andrew Hastie, notes the interception agencies also need the powers for counter-espionage.



The committee then adjourned to consider whether the bill is urgent and to expedite its consideration.