Penny Wright (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move the Greens amendment to Senator Xenophon's proposed request for amendment on sheet 7144 revised:

Item 1, after subsection 85(10A), insert:

(10B)   Subsection (10A) is of no effect unless a regulation has been made:

  (a)   specifying the cost of the measure proposed by that subsection; and

  (b)   authorising the commencement of the measure.

(10C)   If a regulation of the kind mentioned in subsection (10B) has not been made within 6 months after the commencement of that subsection, subsection (10A) does not operate at all.

I do this because, while the Australian Greens have clearly and consistently over time supported the principle of extending the Gold Card to veterans of British nuclear testing, as a matter of right, it would not be responsible to agree to a measure that at this stage would have open-ended cost implications that have not been budgeted for. Since receiving Senator Xenophon's requested amendment, I have not had the opportunity to determine the costs involved if it were to be implemented. Today I received verbal advice from the minister's representative that the costs could be as great as $100 million. That does seem exorbitant to me, given the relatively small number of veterans involved, but it serves to highlight the need for better information about the costs before legislating for this change.

That is why I was happy to co-sponsor the second reading amendment that Senator Xenophon has referred to, to have the government examine the cost of expanding eligibility for the Gold Card to nuclear veterans within a certain time period. Unfortunately, that amendment was not agreed to. However, this amendment that I have now moved is an opportunity to determine the costs involved, to have scrutiny and then to determine whether or not it would be possible to implement this longstanding issue of justice for the veterans of the nuclear testing carried out by Britain.

This amendment would mean that Senator Xenophon's amendment could take effect if the measure has been costed and is enshrined in regulation that has not been disallowed by either house. That would ensure that the costings have been carried out, that there is an opportunity for scrutiny by the other place and the Senate and that there is a means of paying for the implementation of the reform. In my view, that is what is required to be fiscally responsible and I urge the Senate to support this amendment and then consider Senator Xenophon's requested amendment in the light of this amendment.