Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy President. The President, when he is in the chair, is supposed to be balanced and supposed to not take sides. If the President said something—and I am not quite sure what that had to do with the debate and I would comment outside this chamber otherwise on the President's handling of the whole issue—the facts will speak for themselves, Senator Siewert. You have a look at it in Hansard. Leave was sought and was refused. The amendment was moved and it was opposed by both the Greens and the Australian Labor Party.

The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Human Rights Subcommittee, like the Scrutiny of Bills Committee, looks into pieces of legislation that impinge upon human rights in our country. It is a joint committee made up of members of both houses, members of all parties, with a preponderance of Labor Party members. This is what the joint committee said in relation to these media bills, and I quote: 'On the basis of the material provided with the bill, it is difficult to assess whether the limitation of freedom of expression is justified.'

So there is no doubt in the mind of the subcommittee on human rights, with a Labor majority, about accepting this bill brings a limitation on freedom of expression. Their comment is: 'There is nothing in the material to say why that limitation on the freedom of expression is justified.' They go on to say, 'Neither the explanatory memorandum nor the statement of compatibility demonstrate why these reforms are necessary.' They said 'reforms'; I would not call them reforms. But that was the joint parliamentary committee, with a Labor majority. Clearly, they are not of Senator Conroy's faction, the Labor members on that. But I would ask those Labor members of this chamber who are on that committee to explain to the Senate why it is they say that they accept there is a limitation on freedom of expression and why they say that there is nothing in the material or in the bills that justifies this curtailment of freedom of expression.

I know, as I started to say before, that this government has been hammered by the media across the country, and that Senator Conroy does not like it. Ms Gillard does not like it. So what do you do? Try and improve your performance on the things the media are rightly criticising—things like Ms Gillard lying to the Australian public prior to the last election—