Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

We will see if we can gather some more of that information, particularly on those calculations, for you, Senator Milne. In terms of whether it comes into effect, I am advised that it cannot come into effect until the instrument is tabled. However, from previous parliamentary experience, an item is tabled, in effect, until it is disallowed. That is the way the instrument works. I notice I disallowed an accounting standard some months after it was introduced and a company went to produce its accounting report using the standard. It was then subsequently disallowed, a court case ensued and the court ruled that the instrument had life until it was disallowed. So from the moment it is tabled to when it is disallowed, it is actually a live instrument. There are a number of court cases, and I am very familiar with one in particular on an accounting standards.