Why some of ASIO's most controversial powers have been expanded
The Australian parliament has passed legislation extending ASIO's controversial powers to compel citizens to answer questions. The bill faced rare bipartisan opposition from both progressive and conservative lawmakers who argue it threatens civil liberties.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between national security requirements and individual privacy rights in democratic societies.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess has argued the spy agency needs the expanded powers to deal with modern threats. ( ABC News: Callum Flinn )
Link copied Share Share article It takes a certain kind of issue to unite the parliament's most conservative members with its most progressive members.
But that was what occurred last week, as figures like Liberal Senator Alex Antic and One Nation's Malcolm Roberts sat down with the Greens in the Senate to vote against prolonged powers for Australia's domestic spy agency.
The bill extended a contentious remit held by ASIO for more than two decades that essentially allows it, in certain circumstances, to force people to answer questions.
It was an idea introduced in the wake of the 2001 September 11 attacks, and the 2002 Bali bombing, to bolster ASIO's counter-terror tools.
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