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

The fact is that businesses cannot have good notice of the government's intention, because this is an entirely separate matter. Senator Wang, despite the fact that you have written these amendments and despite the fact that they are, in effect, your amendments, they have never, ever been announced as government policy. So how can you possibly say that companies had notice of these proposals? These are entirely separate matters from those that were considered before the Senate committee. These are new measures. You have effectively sought to fundamentally change the nature of this bill and this proposal. You make broad assumptions and broad assertions as to the equivalence of these measures. The evidence has not been produced that that is the case. Not one scrap of evidence has been put forward as to the nature of these changes in terms of their similarity to previous government announcements. This is despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, these are now government amendments.

The government has effectively written these amendments. We have not heard from the proponents—in name—of these. We have not heard a word about it. What we do know is that they were prepared in Treasury for a senator in this place, which you have all confirmed in these matters before a briefing and before the committee, and you have confirmed those propositions in this chamber. I would ask you, Minister: where is the officer from AusIndustry to advise you on this question? Which of these officers here is from AusIndustry?