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

Senator Brandis, I wonder whether it would at least be possible for you to read from the report or whether you would consent to doing that, because otherwise I do not understand how we are able to ascertain how you have dealt with the very serious concerns that the scrutiny committee has put to you and therefore to the chamber. Otherwise I am effectively just taking your word that we should let the debate move on. It is unlikely that we would really be able to come back to the substance of the scrutiny committee's issues, of which there are many. I am presuming you took them seriously enough to write a response, that you to regard them as serious—although I think you said before they were not very good lawyers. So if we just traverse them one by one, are you able to just provide us with an outline of how you have responded to each of the committee's concerns? Otherwise I think what you are asking us to do is just set it aside and trust you and, quite frankly, I do not.