Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I say to the honourable member for New England, who made a comment that I did not quite hear, and the member for Denison and the member for O'Connor, that there is no reason why this debate needs to be extended tonight. Firstly, no mischief has been made out in terms of this bill, whatsoever.

The minister suddenly tonight introduced amendments to this House. I have been here for 21 years. It is unprecedented—I say this genuinely—

An honourable member: It's a conspiracy!

No, it is not a conspiracy, my learned friend, but it is unprecedented in over two decades of my being in this place that a minister has come in here and moved amendments and has not stood up at that dispatch box and explained why the government was moving the amendments.

And we have not yet heard tonight why the amendments that are being moved by the government are so important. There are nine amendments. In response to what I said and what other people on this side have said, we have had a cursory, at best, explanation as to why there should be amendments. I say to the people in this chamber, including the honourable member for New England and the honourable member for Denison: if debate in this chamber means anything then surely this chamber should have an explanation as to what these amendments are at the outset, not some hurried explanation after I have spoken now because of the embarrassment of the government. We should have some explanation as to why these amendments are necessary. That is the first point.

The second point is that there has been no mischief made out by this government about this bill. I challenge everybody in this chamber to ask, in terms of their local communities: what is the mischief from their charities and not-for-profits such that this bill is required? What is it? I have not heard it. There is a deafening silence as to why this bill is so important and, even more so, why it is so important that this bill be passed tonight.

Indeed, the lack of consultation with the charitable sector in relation to this bill is quite significant. This is a government that has already employed 90 staff, according to the media reports, in terms of this commission, without any legislative authority from this parliament. Are we, in the House of Representatives, just going to wave all this through without any due consultation and without any due consideration of this matter?

Am I about to be gagged on an important matter? Am I about to be gagged on something that goes to the heart—

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