Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

In response to Senator Madigan, the simple answer is that ARPANSA has statutory responsibilities under its act for these regulations and safety matters. It is for this parliament to give ARPANSA its function and role in the regulation of these issues. We also seek to have world's best practice in our regulatory framework. I cannot do much more than answer by saying that those statutory obligations are set by us the parliament for ARPANSA to follow.

If Senator Madigan has serious concerns about ARPANSA's operation, then I am happy for him to put those to the government and to follow those up. Opportunities at estimates could be pursued as well. But they have a statutory responsibility to regulate the issues that you raise. I have confidence that they continue to take that responsibility very seriously. But, as I say, if there are issues that the senator has with the way they are operating or how they are dealing with complaints, I am sure we would be happy to take those on board.