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

I am perplexed. We are debating amendments which the government has just said will result in no change. If we are debating amendments which will result in no change, why then have the amendments put in the first place? To be fair to Senator Feeney, he has said that they will result in clarifying the current provisions. I think that is the summary of what Senator Feeney has outlined. I am grateful to Senator Feeney for finally responding—that is, for the government finally being able to respond; it was not Senator Feeney's fault—to the issue I raised with Senator Ronaldson. If these amendments will result in no change, as we have just heard, to what extent will they result in clarifying the established compensation offsetting practices and, to the extent that they do clarify the offsetting practices, does the clarification in itself result in some change in the way the current provisions are being dealt with?