Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the government’s amendment, but rather than the opposition and others having run a scare campaign, the simple fact is that the government has been forced into this position because of the community reaction. I remind the minister and the Senate what the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee reported via its Labor Senate majority in paragraph 1.9 where it reads:

Submissions received by the committee supported the bill being passed … However, this support was conditional on certain issues being addressed, namely the implementation of—

amongst other things—

… the proposed transparency and reporting requirements within the provisions of the bill.

This is the arrogance of the Labor senators. This is what they wrote and said:

As was revealed at the public hearing, however, representatives of non-government school organisations understood that these concerns would be addressed in discussions with the government after the bills were passed, and that they were in no position to influence the government’s immediate legislative intentions.

What hubris. What absolute arrogance. The fact that the government is coming here this evening with an amendment—