Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

While we understand the motivation of the Greens for this amendment as to the principles that would be required in relation to grants made from these funds, the opposition do not, on balance, support this amendment. There are one or two elements of the six requirements that we might otherwise have been able to support, but we do believe it would be very difficult to apply appropriately several of these criteria. We also believe that all of these projects, being major infrastructure projects, will be subject to the normal laws of the land and of course there are, at a state level and at federal level, significant requirements in relation to infrastructure projects that go to environmental impact statements. So we believe the environmental scrutiny that will be applied to all these projects, by dint of existing state and federal laws, will be sufficient to meet the concerns of the Greens in this matter. While I have enjoyed supporting the Greens—and have enjoyed their support—on several of the amendments to these bills, on balance I am afraid the opposition is not in a position to support this particular amendment.

Progress reported.