Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I note the government said that it could be put in place administratively. I make two points there. We want this in the legislation so that it is permanently there, because the current government may be committed to doing something—and I will seek that commitment in a moment—but it does not bind future governments, and that is our concern. I know there is a bit of difference of opinion between the way we see legislation and the way the government sees legislation; we actually believe there are certain things that need to be embedded in legislation and not left to administration—whether it be purely by a process that is set up, or by a regulation or a delegated instrument; those things actually need to be the legislation. That is why we think this should be in legislation—because it is such an important issue. So I will get that on the table: we think this has to be there in legislation and not left just to administration.

I ask the government: are they intending to set up such an advisory committee? And what is their time frame for setting up such an advisory committee? Is it going to be done by regulation? And if so, when do we expect to see those regulations?