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

Just to be very clear, before we commit these amendments—unless others have matters that they want to raise—this goes a little further through the running sheet than we have been discussing thus far in that, for anywhere in the bill where the Attorney-General is given that discretion of 40 sitting days and the first amendment having been disposed of, our fallback position, if you like, is to collapse that process from 40 sitting days to four. If it is an emergency or something that anyone could have seen coming, such as a new service being introduced and a bit more routine than an emergency—whatever that might mean—I see absolutely no reason at all why the government of the day and the executive of the day should be given 40 sitting days. That seems immensely leisurely. The Attorney has just assured us that he cannot think of a reason why government would leave it so long. I would actually take him on his word at that.

This amendment in terms of declared information, declared services, declared criminal law enforcement agencies and declared enforcement agencies are issues that we have not really traversed yet,. Anywhere where this 40 sitting day extended period of time is found in the bill would be reduced to four sitting days also known as one sitting week.