Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will say, very briefly, that this matter was discussed yesterday and the minister read out those comments that had been given to her by the department advising that the government does not believe compensation will be paid. The response from this side is: please provide the evidence to support that claim. This is a critically important matter. It is a matter of sovereign risk, and the issue flows to the compensation that may or may not be payable by governments—this one or a future one. Where is the evidence? That is all I ask. I asked that question yesterday; I ask it again today. This is critically important. Please provide the evidence to back up the claim that you do not believe compensation will be payable.

Once this legislation is passed it is irreversible so I ask: do you have any evidence to support that claim? Do you have any legal advice to support that claim? If you do, could you please table it and provide that evidence to this Senate chamber. Simply saying that the government does not believe compensation is payable is not a guarantee. It is not categorical and this is a very serious issue. Senator Milne has asked a very legitimate question. It came up yesterday and we have not got the answer.