Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

With all these things there are always two sides to the debate. I fully understand the claims and the way it was with the merits review as it currently stands—the gaming issue and the endless delays that that caused. And so the immediate response could go to the reverse and just take it out—get rid of it completely.

The coalition has put forward a reasonable argument. Maybe we should try putting some time frames around it. It will mean the ACCC is probably going to be fairly hectic in this regard. But there is something in me that says I am reluctant to just throw out the merits review completely at this stage, so I will be supporting the opposition on the merits review issue. It is basically a very final issue in a determination, and there is something in me that says there should be at least some way of having a merits review with some time constraints on it. A lot of the amendments that the opposition have put forward could be classified as maybe a little mischievous. I think this one is a genuine attempt to look at the issue and not go from the one extreme of open slather to the other of having no merits review at all. That is my case. I will be supporting the opposition.

Question put:

That the amendments (Senator Birmingham’s) be agreed to.