Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

She’s smiling. For those who are listening, Senator Collins is smiling, which is always a good thing. My concern—and I think Senator Johnston summed it up in his second reading contribution—is that, from a jurisprudential point of view, people are losing rights. In this bill, people are losing rights. It is overturning a well-considered High Court decision. If a person has effectively been defrauded by virtue of their investment, their subscription, in a company, they are missing out because this piece of legislation just holus-bolus overturns the High Court’s decision in Sons of Gwalia, and it does so in a way that completely disregards the common-law rights, the contractual rights and the tortious rights of individuals who have been ripped off, who have, by misrepresentation, been defrauded in investing in a company.

Senator John Williams is in the chamber, and I know that he is one who has been particularly diligent and who has campaigned very strongly in relation to issues of corporate governance, the role of ASIC and people being ripped off. It has always been a pleasure to work with Senator Williams in relation to those issues and issues of banking as well—along with Senator Bushby, we have co-sponsored that Senate inquiry.

The question I have is: what was the process, and what representations were made by which the government went from having a High Court decision to saying, ‘No, we are going to overturn that; we’re actually going to take people’s rights away’? That is a real concern. I am mindful of time constraints. If necessary this can be provided on notice, but I just want these concerns to be placed on the record further to Senator Johnston’s contribution.