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

Perhaps I can assist the chamber. What you have heard from the minister today should make him hang his head in shame for his completely embarrassing performance. All he has been able to do is attempt to slap the opposition for pointing out his own inadequacies in dealing with this legislation. That is what the minister has done today. You are a complete embarrassment not only to the coalition but also, I suggest, to the service people who have to rely on you, Minister, and have confidence in your judgement and your decision making. What we have now heard from you is an embarrassing attack which is fatuous and also incorrect in many respects. It does you no good and, quite frankly, it does not instil confidence in the service people who have to rely on your judgement.

It concerns me that you in fact rise to that. It is not a matter that I went to in my speech in the second reading debate, but you have now forced me to respond to the errors and omissions that you have allowed in dealing with this legislation in the first instance. We now have quite an embarrassing position where you have been forced to back down on the legislation that you brought into the chamber originally. The Senate committee has highlighted the inadequacies, problems and omissions that you have presided over. Bring back Senator Ellison from Cable Beach, I say, because this place has some confidence that he would be able to ensure that we do have a proper process.

It does not, in fact, stop there. What concerns me even more is that the Labor Party have been saying consistently that ACLEI does require oversight not only of the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Crime Commission, the ACC; we have also included Customs. Why have we said Customs? Because, Senator, they carry guns. You may not know that; they actually do that and they can use lethal force in the exercise of their powers. It is not as limited as what you may think, quite frankly—and in that regard they do require oversight.

They also provide joint operations. They go on controlled operations with the Australian Federal Police. It is narrow-minded to suggest that ACLEI should only concentrate on the Australian Federal Police. Senator Johnston, I am not convinced that you in fact know the Australian Federal Police, Customs or Australian Crime Commission service people in your portfolio all that well. In fact, you have backed down, and you have not even acknowledged that. Your amendments to be moved today do precisely that. The Labor Party are big enough to say that we supported the Senate committee recommendations. You need to rise to that challenge and say that you recognise that the Senate committee has identified holes in your legislation and that you need to correct it. But you have not been big enough to say that.

The Labor Party are big enough to say that, because the government has picked up the committee recommendations, we do not now need to move amendments. We thank the government for recognising the errors and omissions in its primary legislation, which it should not have brought before the Senate committee in the first place without having those remedied. The Senate committee is not your oversight body. It is not your backstop for picking up errors, omissions and where you have overreached. The Senate committee is about scrutinising your final effort—and your final effort was not very good, quite frankly.

In addition to that—I was not going to mention it, but now that you have provoked me into it I will—you need to clarify the delayed notification warrants. You will get an opportunity to clarify those. You will get an opportunity to clarify what your remarks—