Australia has passed landmark laws that will give security agencies new powers to force tech companies to write them code to help crack encrypted messages, after Labor dropped last-minute amendments and voted with the Morrison government to pass the controversial bill.
The opposition has promised to revisit the changes when parliament resumes in February 2019, with leader Bill Shorten saying he wanted agencies to have the powers over the Christmas period.
He admits the bill was rushed through Parliament, but said he plans to pursue amendments to the bill in the new year.
"There are legitimate concerns about the encryption legislation," Mr Shorten said.
"But I wasn't prepared to walk away from my job and leave matters in a stand-off and expose Australians to increased risk in terms of national security."
Labor agreed to drop amendments it had been pushing for after the Coalition government raised concerns about national security, relating to terror threats over the holidays.
Labor said its support is conditional on the government amending the new laws in February.
Earlier on Thurday evening, when Labor announced it would pursue further changes in the Senate, it appeared the legislation was not going to pass in time.
