The Australian Democrats today expressed frustration at the poor start to the House of Representatives Standing Committee public hearing for its inquiry into Cyber Crime.
"Australian consumers and business owners are right to feel disappointed at some of the fragile evidence tendered at yesterday's hearing", said Australian Democrats National Technology Policy Coordinator Geordie Guy.
"Even more disappointing is the lack of capable, probative questions from the committee that should have been posed to help develop the evidence."
Yesterday's hearing included committee questions about fictional movie doomsday scenarios, expert assumptions that were admitted to be based on no evidence as well as hand wringing about secret underground black markets of high tech crime.
"We know that online crime has the same sorts of underworlds as traditional crime", Mr Guy continued, "unfortunately from what we heard at yesterday's public hearing it seems there is more hope for exciting crime stories than an investigation of strategy for addressing commonplace instances of high tech crime; Australian bank accounts being emptied, Australian small businesses being threatened and people's identities being stolen."
The Australian Democrats urge the committee to approach its terms of reference in a confident manner when public hearings resume in November, requiring evidence and research to support the submissions by its experts and to ask appropriate questions on issues that are unclear to those who are not highly technically literate.
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Media contact: Geordie Guy, National Technology Policy Coordinator
Email: geordie.guy@democrats.org.au
Phone: 0415797142
