It's true. There were over 15,000 submissions from the public and industry, most of which weren't published (the few hundred that were were overwhelmingly negat

It's true. There were over 15,000 submissions from the public and industry, most of which weren't published (the few hundred that were were overwhelmingly negative). In the hearings of the Parliamentary Joint Committee for Intelligence and Security, there was testimony provided by technical experts, industry groups, human rights groups, legal experts, and digital rights groups, all saying that the bill was flawed, needed to be significantly overhauled, and shouldn't be passed. Apparently the offices of MPs and senators all over the country were inundated with phone calls, letters and emails in opposition of the bill too. Even Labor (opposition, who had the numbers with the cross bench to block the bill in the Senate) the week before it was passed basically said they wouldn't support it, and even earlier in the day they rolled over were still saying how terribly flawed it is. After it was passed, in email correspondence with the office of my federal MP, basically all they said was "The intelligence services say they really need this to keep us safe over Christmas from terrorists and paedophiles." A clear example of post-truth politics - let's ignore all the experts and instead use an emotional argument! The worst bit was that it was patently false. The Secretary-General of Security at ASIO had actually admitted in a PJCIS hearing two weeks prior (with the potential to be charged with contempt of the Senate if he was found to be lying) that they didn't actually have any specific threats that they needed this for over Christmas! Not to mention that the bill had a 28 day response window for most of the notices and then implementation would take at least weeks, so there is no way anything could be put into action for months! One of the only things they got that they could actually use immediately was a much harsher penalty for not giving up your phone passcode to police or the intelligence services if they ask you for it... I'm not into conspiracy theories, but the BS is so strong and this bill being passed so anti-democratic that it really makes you wonder if the intelligence services are pulling strings in the background behind this.