Australia's proposals to increase surveillance powers are dangerous on many points.

The spy agency argues against a clear, simple rule, "To spy on an Australian in Australia, get a specific authorization," by citing edge cases and asking to be able to spy in those cases without asking for specific permission. The agency would stretch those edge cases wide; we know they cannot be trusted not to.

I wonder how often those edge cases really occur. Ten times a year? It would be no burden to ask for specific permission ten more times a year. But if the agency gets an exception in can interpret on its own, it could stretch that to cover thousands of cases a year.

Deregulation government spy agencies is as dangerous as deregulation in business.