Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

I am not suggesting that you are being cynical. Why not give it a go. We are not suggesting that there will be widespread massive savings, but why not at least attempt to have some provision that would permit some savings perhaps? We are not gilding the lily in terms of claims that costs will come down across the board, because that will not happen. But we really do not see why it is not unreasonable to actually attempt to do this. If the opposition’s amendments are carried, we do not even get to first base—we do not even attempt to do it. The arguments have been well put.

The other comments that I want to go to concern specifically schedule 3. We do think that this may be an opposition error in respect of schedule 3. The opposition’s refusal to accept the government’s amendments to the ASIC Act in schedule 3 of the bill, which these amendments deal with, fails to recognise the existing jurisdiction of the Federal Magistrates Court. The Federal Magistrates Court already has jurisdiction in relation to claims of unconscionable conduct in financial services. It already has that jurisdiction and that jurisdiction was conferred on the Federal Magistrates Court by the now Liberal opposition when they were in government. So they are reversing something that they in fact did, and we find that approach difficult to understand.