Alan Ferguson (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was not aware that we were going past 6.50 pm, but I am very happy to continue. There are a number of senators on this side who are involved in Senate committees who hope that we get to the stage where we do have a number of references of matters of public interest—matters that are sometimes controversial—where we will be able to take part in those committees for the benefit of the Australian community.

I still remember being on committees when one was chaired by my good friend former senator Bruce Childs, who I remember made an enormous contribution to this place as a committee chairman. Former Senator Childs, together with former senator Brian Archer, who had been a former chair of the same committee, probably taught me more about the workings of committees in my first two years here than I have learnt since. It is amazing that, with former Senators Childs and Archer, whenever we had controversial subjects—and I do remember one of them being an inquiry into the CSIRO, which I do not think it would be bad to have another inquiry into in the public interest—we always managed to come up with unanimous reports. I think, Acting Deputy President Chapman, you may have even been involved in the same inquiry.

I think it is important that we change the structure, because right now there are some references committees that have no work to do. There are some that have no work to do because this Senate is not referring matters.