[justinclift]

> Haven't come across that justification before.

You haven't really looked at all then. Go find the video that shows the question as well, rather than the one you have that just shows an out-of-context response.

That'll make it clear.

It has nothing at all to do with anything you're pushing in the rest of your response.

[BLKNSLVR]

When a reporter asked Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, “Won’t the laws of mathematics trump the laws of Australia?,” Mr. Turnbull reportedly responded “Well the laws of Australia prevail in Australia, I can assure you of that. The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia.”

Excerpt from: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/no-the-laws-of-australia-...

[defrost]

And .. the context that followed that you omitted:

    what we are seeking to do is to secure their assistance. They have to face up to their responsibility. They can’t just wash their hands of it and say it’s got nothing to do with them," Turnbull said when asked how the encryption should be broken.

I'm no fan of Turnball for many many reasons .. but he was not an idiot about technology and well understood mathematics (for someone not in the field professionally).

As stated above by another commentator he made a smart arse response to a smart arse question, as is intuitively obvious to the meanest intellect, and then clarified that legal steps would be taken to ensure to cooperation of the major invested actors.