Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Hansard source

I indicate that the opposition will be supporting the Greens on this. We oppose schedule 1 on the grounds that this represents a very clear attempt by this government to undermine the High Court. It is a very shoddy exercise here. The government is attempting to undermine a case that is currently before the High Court. A little while back this government took into custody 157 people and detained them on a prison ship for over a month. When that matter was brought to the attention of the courts this government protested vigorously and sought to undertake these measures to undermine the court proceedings.

This schedule, if carried, would scuttle the High Court case. It would render the precedent value of the present proceedings redundant. That is a case which is fundamentally about the powers of the government under the Maritime Powers Act. The High Court has a legitimate function to perform in assessing the government's actions. This is not about this chamber making a pre-emptive decision on that matter; it is about whether or not the High Court is an appropriate place to evaluate the government's actions.

It is simply inappropriate to walk down this path when the case is currently before the court. After the court has made its decision, then the government I believe would be entitled to put a proposition to the parliament, but I put to this chamber that to do so while the proceedings are under way is totally inappropriate. We strongly believe that this is not an appropriate use of this chamber. We ought to ensure that the proceedings before the court run their course. The High Court should be allowed to continue the work it has been able to do and that is why we are opposing this schedule.