'Too important to rush': Coalition wants more time to review sweeping new cyber laws
The Albanese government is giving itself a tight deadline to pass new cybersecurity laws before the end of the year, but the Coalition says rushing the legislation risks unintended consequences.
The opposition is asking for more time to review new cybersecurity laws set to affect the major banks, Telstra and other critical infrastructure operators, warning of “unintended consequences” if the government tries to rush them through parliament.
Labor introduced the three cyber bills on Wednesday. They include a new mandatory reporting regime for the payment of ransoms and an expansion of the government’s step-in powers to direct operators of critical infrastructure to undertake certain actions in response to cyber attacks.
The government wants to pass the laws by the last sitting week in November, which gives the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security about a month to scrutinise the proposed laws.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the “government has had more than two years to introduce its self-hyped cyber reforms”.
