Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable senator for his follow-up question. There has been no postponement. The members who make up the committee—the membership of which I detailed to the Senate a little while ago—come from all over Australia. You just cannot convene a high-level, expert committee, made up of busy people like the people representing the organisations that I mentioned, just overnight. Simple courtesy requires that you give them proper notice for them to prepare their thoughts and their submissions—and we have asked them to let us have their thoughts. That is just proper courtesy and proper planning for a serious meeting. There has been no postponement. I made no announcement of any date until we fixed a date. The furphy that senators opposite are seeking to perpetrate is nothing but a furphy.