[brokenmachine]

No, he was literally saying that he didn't care about reality.

He was a lawyer, so would be quite aware of the meaning of the words he was uttering.

[incompatible]

I doubt that he imagined that he could write a law that would force the encryption algorithms to yield to the ASIO. It was all about using a big stick to force people to help break encryption, by inserting back doors etc.

Sure he was a lawyer and banker and probably never should have been involved with things like encryption and the NBN, but that's politics for you.