Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the minister for his response and his comments on our approach to this bill. He will be aware—as we have made no secret of the fact—that we do not think the bill goes far enough. There is, hence, the range of amendments that we will be moving. We thank the minister and the government for their agreement on the areas where we have managed to reach agreement. I would like to further pursue this issue. I know that we have a large agenda to deal with, so I will not try to hold us up here any more than is necessary to get answers to a couple of extra questions.

There are issues that need to be dealt with as we work through this legislation, but I am not exactly clear from your initial answer how the government intends to deal with these particular issues. As I said, there were a number. Local government were particularly vocal about these issues, as were community based organisations. Given that these organisations have very limited funds and very limited access to funds to support administration, it could potentially be quite a complex system. I am seeking a level of assurance about time lines within which this will be dealt with, how it is intended to be dealt with and, if in fact it is highly complex, whether assistance will be provided to these organisations in order for them to deal with what appears to be quite a significant jurisdictional mess for some of them. This applies to national organisations that work at both a national and a state level and to state organisations that work at a state level but which can engage in national arrangements as well.