Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to hear that Senator Kemp is so worried about my level of comfort. It is a refreshing change. It has not been high on his list of priorities in the past. Obviously, in pre-retirement mode, he is mellowing. I do not take a lot of comfort from that response because it seems to me that it very much enhances the powers of the minister and the minister’s potential to interfere. I suppose the bottom line is this question, which I would appreciate the minister’s answer to: is it the case that the minister, as a result of the amendments proposed by the government, can direct the delegation of a land council’s powers to a regional body corporate in relation to leases?