Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

If any scrutiny had been applied to this, it's shocking that it got through their caucus. It's shocking it got through their cabinet. It's shocking it got passed the minister's desk. How on earth didn't the minister take one look at this, get the red pen out and put a mark through it and say, 'Come back with this excised, thank you very much'? This amendment is pleading to any vestige of common sense left in the Labor Party that the current arrangements that still provide access to the scheme for people in exceptional circumstances who are in jail or that provide a special assessment process for those criminals who have served for more than five years for an offence—the minister herself has said for the most serious of offences she's happy with the special assessment process. She just doesn't consider these to be serious crimes. I'm not sure how anyone could claim that the litany of offences I've outlined on numerous occasions here are not serious crimes. If you don't think they're serious crimes, Minister, put it on the record in black and white.

Question unresolved.

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