Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

In circumstances of an agreement about the amount of compensation that would be paid, it is very important to know that if you get to a particular point at which somebody asserts that it is this much and the Commonwealth says, ‘We do not agree with that,’ then there must be a process that is independent from government for the resolution of that particular issue. Quite clearly, in almost every case in law, the trigger is that if you cannot agree then you will go to the judicial system, which is separate from both the plaintiff and the Commonwealth in those matters. The judicial system will then decide. It is simply a trigger that says, ‘At this point where there can’t be an agreement, a court will decide the amount.’ That is what it says clearly in the legislation and I would say that the legislation would be extremely lacking if it did not provide clarity around the circumstances where an agreement could not be reached between the parties.