George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I indicate that the opposition will be supporting the amendment that has been moved by Senator Barnett. As the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Evans, indicated in his speech in the second reading debate, we accept that the legislation is emergency legislation, that there is an issue of concern about looking after children in some of these areas, and that that needs to be addressed, and addressed with some urgency. In that respect, the Opposition have indicated that we will facilitate the passage of the legislation through the parliament, despite the fact that we may have some reservations and concerns about certain aspects of the legislation.

I indicate that, whilst we have agreed to this amendment with respect to these bills, it should not be taken that our protests, which have been put on the record on a number of occasions, about the way the Senate committee processes have been truncated on a range of inquiries and hearings since the government got a majority in this place on 1 July 2005, have somehow melted away; they have not. Certainly, we recognise that this issue is important and that there is a degree of urgency about it. So we are prepared to facilitate the passage of the bills through the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Original question, as amended, agreed to.