Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the opposition, I'll just make some brief comments on the amendments to the Crimes Legislation Amendment (International Crime Cooperation and Other Measures) Bill 2016 that have been put forward by the government. Labor is happy to support the amendments to schedule 8 of the bill. The original provisions in schedule 8 sought to extend the period that the AFP commissioner is authorised to postpone an employee's date of resignation in cases that involve allegations of serious misconduct or corruption from 90 days to 180 days. The minister has outlined some of the discussions that took place while this bill was working its way through the legislative process. The Australian Federal Police Association, the Labor opposition and the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee raised concerns about this aspect of the bill. During the briefing that was provided to us by the department we were able to suggest that the parties could perhaps work this out, rather than having a big blow-up in the parliament on this matter. It's very pleasing to see that a compromise has been reached and the government's been able to move amendments that will give effect to that compromise. It's an example—perhaps a rare one—of the legislative process working at its effective best.

The amendment proposed by the government will permit the commissioner or delegate to postpone an employee's resignation by an extra 30 days. That extension can occur only twice, making the maximum postponement of a resignation 150 days rather than the 180 days initially proposed by the government. Importantly, under these amendments any extension must be properly justified. The government has also agreed to a statutory review of these changes after five years so we can be sure that the amendments to this scheme are working properly. Labor does support these changes and the bill as a whole. They make some minor, though important, improvements to the way federal criminal law operates. Thank you.

Question agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House with amendments.

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