Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, I sought to have it incorporated last year within the list of bills. You refused to have it. So some time, we presume, in the next sitting period, we are expected to bring this bill back. I trust it will be only three weeks, but we all understand how this place works. We all understand what you do to the legislative program in this chamber. You cannot guarantee it will be three weeks. You could take weeks and weeks to get around to coming up to having the will, the whim or the otherwise inclination to deal with this matter again. So the industry may well be without protection for weeks and weeks while you rethink your irresponsible position.

We have a situation where the current arrangement for the re-registration of colleges is underway. We have a series of measures being undertaken by this government to tighten up the regulations in this industry and to strengthen the quality assurance regime in this country—and what is happening? The Liberal Party are frustrating those measures. You are moving to protect the shonks once again, as you did in government. You refuse to act because you saw it was in your interests to play these silly games.

The government has moved quickly to address the problems which are emerging in the industry. We have sought a series of measures through the states to enforce a tougher regime to protect students. We will not, however, be getting out a blank cheque to fund shonky dealers whose colleges collapse, leaving us totally exposed when it comes to the question of consequential expenses. Imagine what a rorter could do with that. What an amazing proposition! Senator Xenophon, this morning you were offered a proposition in my presence by the Deputy Prime Minister about having these matters dealt with—