Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

I asked him to come to the dispatch box and do two things: at least attempt to argue that his original bill did not undermine the position of the inspector-general—and he did not. All he did was quote Michael Bond, who told Senate estimates, because he had read it in the paper, I suspect, that he understood the bill as represented gave him more powers than he previously held. He read it in the paper, because I know for a fact the minister never consulted Michael Bond before making these changes.

The second thing I asked him to do was give us some logical explanation to help us out—to explain why he found it necessary to amend the 2012 bill. He is talking about plumbing or something. I have no idea what that is about. We have gone from Boo and Pistol to plumbing. What that has to do with why he took the inspector-general out of the original bill I have no idea, and he still has not given an explanation.

The other thing he did—

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