Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I move Democrat amendment (26) on sheet 5192:

(26)  Schedule 2, item 36, page 32 (after line 33), at the end of section 94B, add:

        (2)    If a report is provided to the Court under subsection (1), a copy of the report must also be provided to the other party to the proceedings.

In moving this amendment I note the previous response from the minister and the government. I appreciate that he is not the minister directly responsible for this so he probably does not have scope to take into account and to agree to some of these amendments. But just to say that it is expected that this will happen and that consultation will happen is, firstly, very heroic. Also, given the feedback and evidence that we got from the inquiry itself about how things can operate when they are not working well already, it is also a bit curious to say that those things do not add anything to the legislation. To put in a requirement that such views of representative bodies must be taken into account adds a very specific thing. It moves it from an expectation that this will happen to a requirement that this will happen. To reject such a simple and straightforward amendment as that, frankly, does not, I think, reflect terribly well on whoever it is in the government who makes these decisions—and I appreciate it is probably not the minister in the chamber at the moment.

Democrat amendment (26), which is also an alternative to a previous amendment, seeks to amend item (36) of schedule 2 of the bill so that other parties to the proceedings are served and provided with an opportunity to comment on any report to which the court will have regard. It may well be that the minister again says that it is expected that this will happen. I would again simply say that, although I hope it is expected, it should be required, not just because it is a nice thing, all nice and cuddly and inclusive, but rather, more importantly, because it will maximise the chances for fully informed proceedings and justice occurring. It is a pretty complex act we have here. There are a lot of requirements and a hell of a lot of red tape and bureaucracy being put on a lot of people. The least we can do is to ensure that when that happens there is full opportunity for people to comment and have input into what gets put before the court.