Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Seniors) Share this | Hansard source

I make the point that has been made by the shadow minister who had the carriage of this bill; that is, about the speed and haste of it being improperly brought forward. Notice was given only yesterday and no proper attention or time was given to allow the opposition to go through the proper formalities for consideration of the bill. It is quite unseemly. I think it is most important that the opposition states that this sort of behaviour from the government cannot be tolerated. If you are the government, you have procedures to follow and you must follow them, and that includes giving the opposition the correct amount of time to allow proper consideration of legislation. This is an appropriation. This is a large amount of money. It will have a very large impact. As the shadow minister, Mr Andrews, pointed out, it will have an impost on many NGOs and other organisations, and there should have been adequate time for consultation, from the opposition's point of view, for the proper consideration of this bill. The fact that we have chosen not to oppose it simply says that we on this side of the House have a solid conscience on the matter, but I say to the government that it may not and must not proceed in this way: it shows a complete contempt for the seriousness of the bill and the manner in which things must be dealt with in this parliament.

Bill read a third time.

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