A new power giving the attorney-general veto power over the prosecution of journalists accused of breaching secrecy laws looms as a major hurdle to reforms passing parliament.
The Albanese government is looking to roll back a third of Australia's criminal secrecy provisions, which have ballooned this century.
Alliance for Journalists' Freedom executive director Peter Greste, appearing before a Senate committee on Wednesday, said that included 130 new security laws in the two decades after September 11, 2001.
Mr Greste said that was more than any other country, making Australia a "world champion".
"A degree of secrecy is important, of course, but only around information that is genuinely sensitive or that would be genuinely damaging if it was released," he said.
