C'mon now we all REALLY know what this is all about.
It doesn't matter what we think, nor what the govt tells us, because we know it is something they want therefore it is good for them, and if it's good for them, historically, it's bad for us.
I have no idea why, but it will become obvious years from now.
Now I hear some people say, 'if you are an honest person, you should not concern yourself with being under surveillance'.
Now I can agree with that comment, BUT, for some reason, I just don't like it, and I'm as clean as they come.
So why do I feel so uncomfortable about the whole idea or concept of surveillance, when I know it's a good thing, in that it will help filter out the baddies' of the world.
Or will it?
Typical of ALL baddies', they will find a way around it and the goodies will end up being the bunnies'.
Don't forget, we are treated like mushrooms, 'kept in the dark and fed bullsh!t'.

Deep state police hide behind radar guns , photograph trucks and their daily hours of driving , list child abusers for employment checks and allow organised banking dealers to gather credit rating.
OLO lists date and time of posting private opinions which the Kremlin hacks , records and sends to the CFMEU.

«we need weapons to reduce the crime and terrorism»

As for terror, rationally, a bomb or a shot here and there are relatively insignificant compared with more real threats, including domestic violence, road toll and melanoma from staying in the sun. These bizarre incidents would never bring terror into the hearts of ordinary people if not for government and the media which stand to gain from them.

As for crime, it is governments that decide who is a criminal - look for instance at this criminal: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-02/egyptian-film-star-rania-youssef-charged-after-showing-legs/10574966

Smoking and melanoma from staying in the sun will give infra-red heat signals for satellites. Medicare and Life Guards can combine to enter data about sunburnt customers into medical records , post sunscreen by mail and bill their bank account.

I think there's a difference to address here. The surveillance done in secret by government agencies, and the surveillance done openly by policing agencies whether they be a local police agency or a federal investigation agency. As of now (unless I'm wrong and it's changed) the police don't have the tools to just break everyone's privicy and do a massive search on their records. It seems like things are going in this direction, and it probabley is already being used by some government agencies in secret. But relight now it's not in the hands of those who might be the best source of stopping crimes and protecting the people.

On that note, this is perhaps the last stage to protecting our right to privacy, thus the last hope protecting us from government abuses. It is also the last hurdle to efficiently protecting the people from the criminals.

The real hurdle comes done to this. How much do you trust your government? If we give them the OK to use the tools of surveillance freely then we should trust them a lot. Or that crime has gotten so bad that we're willing to accept the risks of government abuses for the sake of getting kid of so much crime.

It's here now.

Australia to become first country in the world to force WhatsApp and other apps to include spyware to allow Big Brother spies to read your messages

Powers are limited to 'serious offences' such as terrorism and organised crime ** If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you **

The government will soon be spying on your messages with new world-first national security laws dealing with encrypted communications expected to pass parliament this week.

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are secured with end-to-end encryption, meaning the app and third parties cannot read or listen to the content - but that is now about to change.

The spying powers are limited to only 'serious offences' such as preventing terrorism and tackling organised crime in Australia.

Under the proposed powers, companies would be required to build a new function to help police access the suspects' data, or risk a fine for not doing so.

They could be asked to install software or a modifying service on the suspects' device, and provide technical information such as the source code.

The suspect would not even know if they're being spied on because the company cannot tell anyone.

On Tuesday, Labor and the government came to an in-principle agreement on key parts of the bill after the ALP pushed for it to be amended.

'The changes include limiting the application of the powers in this bill to only serious offences,' Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said.

'There are likely to be significant outstanding issues, but this compromise will deliver security and enforcement agencies the powers they say they need over the Christmas period, and ensure adequate oversight and safeguards.'

The proposed bill is yet to be signed off by parliament's intelligence and security committee.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6457945/Government-read-WhatsApp-messages-spyware-added-apps-legislation.html

Who is allowed to spy on you?

Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation
Australian Secret Intelligence Service
Australian Signals Directorate
Australian Federal Police
Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity
Australian Crime Commission
State Police