Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The amendment goes beyond the committee recommendation. I did not want to say this, but if you had been able to participate in the committee process you may have been able to argue this issue and we may have been able to have a look at it. But it goes beyond the committee recommendation and I have not had it fully argued and I have not listened to the responses from the government about it. That is why I have indicated that I am happy to hear what the government might say about it. If you had confined yourself to the committee recommendation we might be in a position different from where we are now. I have read the provision you put forward and rather than using the word ‘oppose’ I have used the phrase ‘not going to support’ at this point. I understand the arguments that you have put and I understand the point you are seeking to make. Where it goes beyond the committee recommendation itself I have not had the time to put those issues through the committee—I am a member of it—and have an argument and dialogue about how it would affect Customs. That is for the minister to tell us.