Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, Senator Ray: nine—at the beginning of the committee stage; no chance to read them. Amendments have been raining down like confetti for the last 24 hours, with no chance to examine them.

I want to take up the point that Senator Coonan made in her closing contribution to the second reading debate, that there has been genuine interest from many senators in this chamber who actually have genuine concerns about where this bill has gone. Senator Boswell is on the record as saying he does not even want the bill. Senator Joyce and Senator Nash made genuine attempts to improve this bill, genuine attempts to try and deal with some of the complex issues in this bill, as did Senator Ian Macdonald. Even Senator Ronaldson, for all his bluff and bluster, has made a genuine attempt. And Senator Brandis has made some important contributions in the committee stage. But what we are seeing now is an absolute farce: a guillotine—