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Data retention laws expected to be passed in Australia

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Stringent data retention laws are expected to be passed by the Australian parliament on Wednesday after the addition of a hurdle to protect journalists.

The government wants to force telecommunications companies to hold metadata on all customers' Internet and phone activities for a minimum of two years.

The opposition agreed to support the laws after debating the merits of the bill in a Tuesday caucus meeting.

Labor MP Ed Husic questioned how crucial metadata would be in terrorism investigations given the rise of attacks such as the Sydney siege where potential terrorists are not necessarily communicating with each other.

A supporter of the bill reminded their fellow Labor Party MPs that the brutal murder of Irish woman Jill Meagher, who was killed walking home from a Melbourne bar in 2012, was only solved with the help of phone records.

Up to 20 government agencies will be authorized to access the data without a warrant, unless the person in question is a journalist when a court will be required to approve access.

It came after Australian journalists raised concerns about protecting the identity of anonymous sources. Endi