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

At the outset I thank Senator Barnett for allowing me to made a brief and short contribution on the Federal Court of Australia Amendment (Criminal Jurisdiction) Bill 2008. The coalition support this legislation. We were minded to support the amendment that was to be moved by Senator Bob Brown. That amendment would have required the government to maintain the full Federal Court Registry in Hobart as it has existed for some considerable period of time. The amendment proposed by Senator Bob Brown has great merit, and I can indicate that as a coalition we will be supporting it in the future; however, the Attorney-General has indicated to us that, if the amendment were to be supported, the government would not be accepting that amendment and the legislation would then bounce between this place and the House.

The bill we are debating provides the Federal Court with the criminal jurisdiction to deal with the criminality of cartel behaviour under the Trade Practices Act. Senator Bob Brown’s amendment is very meritorious and we fully support it, but on balance, having given consideration to the matters at stake, we think the criminal jurisdiction aspect of the Federal Court that deals with the criminality of cartel behaviour is a matter that should take precedence over the issue of the Hobart Federal Court Registry.

It is for that reason that we have now reluctantly withdrawn our support for Senator Bob Brown’s amendment—which I trust he has been advised of because I rang his office indicating that—having initially indicated our support. We have withdrawn our support only because of the dogged approach by the Attorney-General and the Labor government, who said that they would vote against an amendment to this legislation to continue the full Federal Court Registry facilities in Hobart. The Labor Party are now on record saying that they would vote against such a proposal and, what is more, that they would be prepared to delay the criminal jurisdiction bill on that basis. I must say that it shows an unfortunate trend with this arrogant Labor government that they will seek to block any good idea and even hold up very important and vital legislation. Therefore, as a halfway house, we the coalition have decided to move a second reading amendment. I move the second reading amendment standing my name:

At the end of the motion, add:

               but the Senate calls on the Government to ensure that:

             (a)    at least one Federal Court Registry in each state is staffed on a full-time basis; and

             (b)    the complement of staff in each such Registry includes a full-time Registrar.

Senator Bob Brown would undoubtedly be well acquainted with that wording because it is largely plagiarised from the amendment he was proposing to move in the committee stage of this bill. I indicate as a former practitioner in Hobart that the Federal Court Registry and the work that it did, especially under the former registrar, Mr Alan Parrott, was exceptional. The numbers and the processing of Federal Court matters were second to none in the jurisdiction. When we as a Senate passed a motion requesting that these facilities be maintained in Hobart, we had a letter from Chief Justice Black which, with respect to His Honour, did him and the Federal Court no credit where it was suggested that with less they could achieve even more, that by getting rid of a full-time Federal Court registrar in Hobart they were somehow going to improve the numbers beyond that which they already were. Quite frankly, it defies logic and any rational thought how that could possibly be achieved. Of course, if the Federal Court could achieve better with less in Hobart, one has to ask the question why they cannot achieve better with less in all their other registries around the nation.

With those few words I indicate that we as a coalition are determined that, on the next occasion legislation comes along, we will be moving—and Senator Barnett will talk about this in more detail, given his excellent contribution to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and to the access to justice bill—an amendment or, indeed, if Senator Brown were to again move his amendment in relation to that bill, we would be minded to support it. Our concern is that the government have refused any amendment on this occasion to stop the commencement of the criminal jurisdiction bill, which we find to be, in effect, blackmail. They do hold the whip hand in relation to that so we reluctantly accept their position, but we will be persisting with our second reading amendment and then will be supporting a fully-fledged amendment, come the access to justice legislation. I once again thank my colleague and friend Senator Barnett for allowing me to speak before him.