Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Fair Competition) Share this | Hansard source

That would be because of the guillotine, Senator Brandis; you are quite right, but I would like to highlight the comments. As Senator Brandis has outlined, this is a bill that is broadly supported by the coalition. But undermining this bill is Labor's record—this government's record—with respect to resourcing the fight against crime in Australia. While this bill contains many provisions about standardising parole and particular aspects of the laws of evidence, it is hard to take this government's claims seriously. It talks about the importance of addressing this issue in Australia but, when we have seen such a drastic cut to the Australian Crime Commission—such a critical body which looks at organised crime that crosses state boundaries and which is international in nature—and seen more than 100 officers sent home to our state police forces, it is very hard to take this government's particular claims seriously.