Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

We are concerned that before this House is a bill that is actually affecting a commission of inquiry that is under way now—in fact, due to report exactly a month from today. We want the commission to be able to complete its job and we want it to be able to do it quickly. We are happy to support the bill, because we think it is going to help the commission do its job, but we are still disappointed that we were not having this debate weeks or months ago, when the issue was first raised, which would have enabled the commission to do its job more quickly. We would also prefer to be here addressing a change that would actually go to the substantive problem that Commissioner Cole faces, which is the very restricted terms of reference that this government has given the commission.

We are pleased to be supporting the bill. We are happy to facilitate its urgent passage through the parliament, so that Commissioner Cole can continue his work with minimal further interruptions, but the government cannot be allowed to continue its ruse that this bill demonstrates its commitment to helping Commissioner Cole to find the truth. As we all know, the truth is that Commissioner Cole is hamstrung by restrictive terms of reference that prevent him looking at the question Australia needs to know the answer to: exactly what role did Howard government ministers play in this shameful betrayal of our sailors and soldiers who served our country in the Persian Gulf and in Iraq when these sanctions were in place?

Unfortunately, even with the modest change that is before the House, we will not get an answer to that question. And unfortunately, I fear, it will not be the last time I am in this House criticising the Attorney for failing to take any advice, either from the public—from those advocates who raised concerns with the approach he was taking—or from our side of this House, when we see mismanagement or incompetence or laws that could be improved or changed and the Attorney persisting with his standard behaviour, which is that he is the only person who can be right and he will not accept any sort of recommendation from anybody else. I do not want that to happen with this bill. I do not want it to happen with the family relationship centres, which could offer so much to the community. I do not want it to happen with every other debate that we have in this House. So I trust that the Attorney will by now have learnt that lesson. While supporting this bill, I hope that we do not have to be here again in the future to tidy up yet another one of his messes.

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