George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to respond quickly to what Senator Collins has said. Senator Collins, I was not at liberty to do that. Under standing order 166 I did not have the capacity unilaterally to do that. Had I had the capacity I expect I would have done so.

The government amendments were circulated yesterday. That is not late in the piece. The government amendments were based on the recommendations of a parliamentary committee which reported and whose report was published two weeks ago. I announced not quite two weeks ago that they would be adopted. So there has been no obscurity or delay in the publicity given to the government amendments. They have been in the public domain, in substance, for two weeks and in a technical drafting sense for more than the ordinary length of time. I am not going to engage in a verbal quibble with you about whether a document that is published is a public document because it has not been published yet.

Senator Ludlam, you have successfully filibustered this important debate for two hours now.