Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security inquiry into the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 8 February 2019 Pirate Party Australia would like to thank the Committee for the opportunity to comment on the review of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amend- ment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (the Act). We doubt any Government or Opposition politician will actually pay attention. After all, there were over 14,000 submissions relating to the Act last year, almost all critical, and yet it was cynically rushed through Parliament with massive defi- ciencies, including what appear to be outright drafting errors. The Pirate Party commends the Law Council (in submission no. 4) for outlining these deficiencies (as well as the few improvements) in excruciating detail. The most serious problems are also outlined in submission no. 5, by Dr. Chris Culnane and A/Prof. Vanessa Teague. The ”#AABill” has quickly become internationally infamous in the technology sec- tor and is causing serious concerns about the trustworthiness of both Australian software and Australian software engineers. It’s particularly astonishing that this law has been enacted after all the fuss over Huawei hardware not being used in the NBN, over concerns of being comprom- ised by the Chinese government. Does the Australian Government have no self- awareness whatsoever? Are we incapable of not enthusiastically copying others’ mistakes? We concur with Dr. Culnane and A/Prof Teague that this law is so flawed, mere amendments are insufficient. Recommendation: Repeal the Act. Ditch it. Start over. With luck, the few worthwhile provisions and some of our software industry’s lost reputation will be salvageable. About Pirate Party Australia Pirate Party Australia is a political party based around the core tenets of freedom of information and culture, civil and digital liberties, privacy and anonymity, gov- ernment transparency, and participatory democracy. It formed in 2008, and is part of an international movement that began in Sweden in 2006. Pirate Parties have been elected to all levels of government worldwide. 2.