The proposed laws allow police and spies to tap phone calls and trace emails and text messages of people believed to be in contact with suspected criminals. Police will be able to have a tap in place for up to 45 days in the hope it will lead them to those they suspect of committing a crime.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) will be able to have the taps in place for three months. Rights advocates have expressed alarm at the moves, but Mr Ruddock says they will be subject to strict controls. "The issuing authority - that is, the judge - has to be satisfied in relation to a number of other matters - that is, the privacy of a person won't be unduly interfered with," he told ABC radio today.

"(The judge) has to take into account the seriousness of the offences being investigated, how much of the information would be likely to assist in the investigation by the agency, to what extent alternative methods of investigating it have been used, and how much use of such methods would be likely to assist the investigation by the agency of the offence, and how much the use of the methods would be likely to prejudice an investigation by the agency," he said. "So you can see these are very significant tests that have to be satisfied."

The proposals sparked debate in the coalition party room yesterday, but civil libertarians say they are unnecessary. "This is the first time ever in Australia's history that we see the police being given the power to tap the phones of people who are not suspects, who are innocent people and just people who happen to be in contact with someone, likely to be in contact with someone, who's a criminal," NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Cameron Murphy said. "It massively expands police surveillance and it's directly targeted against innocent people who are doing nothing wrong," he told ABC radio.

Mr Murphy said he did not trust Mr Ruddock's assertions that restrictions on the surveillance powers would be sufficient to protect innocent people. "I don't have the confidence to trust the attorney-general when he says that it'll be subject to strict oversight.

"We've seen ... already that Australian phones are 26 times more likely to be bugged than an American phone. "There's much more phone tapping in Australia than in any other nation on earth and judicial oversight has done nothing to stem that. "Most warrants that are asked for by police are granted by the courts and there's very little scrutiny over the process."

The Telecommunications (Interception) Amendment Bill will also make permanent existing powers to tap suspects' phones and monitor their emails and text messages. The legislation is a response to a report by former head of the Attorney-General's Department Tony Blunn, handed down in September last year.

Mr Blunn found that, although phone tapping was essential to fighting crime and protecting national security, there should be tighter laws to protect privacy. - AAP