Labor gives parliament only limited powers to examine unlawful spying after Timor-Leste scandal

Australian attorney general Mark Dreyfus has defended the government’s proposed reform of the oversight of spy services. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Australia’s parliament will be given only a limited ability to scrutinise unlawful and improper intelligence operations, prompting concerns it will not be able to meet a pre-election promise for an investigation of the 2004 Timor-Leste bugging scandal.

In opposition, Labor pledged to drastically increase the level of parliamentary oversight of intelligence agencies, including by allowing the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security (PJCIS) to examine specific operations mounted by Australia’s spies.