Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Science) Share this | Hansard source

Including the member for Sturt—he names himself, helpfully! But they should not have had to do that. That should have been a debate in this parliament. Most of all, you've got to thank the many family members, friends and community members over many years who've just had arguments around kitchen tables about what in the end is a pretty simple matter of equality.

I've heard some members, including the member for Warringah, claim this as some sort of great moment. It's not a great moment. We were lucky to escape unscathed from a process which is fraught with danger and which undermines the operation of this parliament and has undermined the nature of this debate in this parliament. In particular, I've heard a few speeches and a few opinions about this issue of religious protections, and the government's had to put up a panel and a whole process to deal with it. If we had had a conscience debate at an appropriate time, there would have been time to consider this. Those matters could have gone to a committee in advance of a debate.

See this speech in context