Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

It is going to be a very brief contribution. As before, Senator Johnston should not have been put in this position; nor should his staff, for that matter. That we are analysing amendments that have been passed around the chamber shortly before we need to debate them and put them to the vote is a pretty contemptuous way of treating the Australian academic and research community quite frankly. It has put my staff through an enormous amount of stress and pressure trying to come up with ways of fixing this debacle.

These amendments should have been, could have been, investigated, analysed and scrutinised by the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee—as is its job—on which Senator Johnston sits. Again, when it comes to it, we will not be calling a division but I do record the Greens' objections to the way that this process has been handled. I look to Senator Johnston to see if he is ready to make his contribution on this amendment, otherwise we should simply put the question and move on.