Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I have got a lot of sympathy with what Senator Scullion has said, but we are here to make decisions and there is always another report and always another process. The government has made a priority of this legislation. I do not know what the government’s position is on the amendment that Senator Siewert has just moved, which would mean that people who would be disadvantaged—because they would lose their card under this legislation—would no longer lose their card. It would mean that newcomers who are reasonably well off would not have access to the card. That is the ultimate point for the government. We have all heard how, with the worsening financial situation, the number of people who have a card and who are better off has fallen from 22,000 to some unknown figure, but very much smaller than that, in just the last few months.

The Greens will support the legislation if the amendment fails. We are moving the amendment so as to put to the opposition a position which would protect the folk that we and they are concerned about—the people who would otherwise lose their cards. For us, this is effectively a win-win proposal that is being put to the chamber and I ask the opposition to think about that again. This is part of the Senate process and we are moving closer to a decision. Some very positive amendments are being brought forward to try to meet the major concerns of people who might otherwise oppose the bill, and they of course are those in the opposition and the crossbench Independents. The government may not like it but it is a serious amendment. If it is put into the bill, it will at least relieve those folk who feel, with the passage of the bill, they are going to lose their card and cannot afford to do that in the current economic circumstances.