Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

Labor acknowledges that the 20 new government amendments that arrived in this chamber at 9:30 this morning do to some extent improve the bill, but they still fail to formally recognise the existing NHMRC structures for distributing funds and they fail to include any expert review or peer review process.

The government has taken into account Labor's amendments that there be representation on the advisory board from a health consumers perspective, and this is welcome. This was the next tranche of amendments that Labor was going to make to the bill. But why did it take till 9:30 this morning for the government to realise that this would have been a good idea? The government has been working on this for 18 months. Surely in the last 18 months someone somewhere said, 'I think it'd be a good idea to have the consumer representative on the advisory board.' But it has taken until the day that this bill will pass the Senate for them to realise that and hear that.

This has been an appalling example of consultation. This is a signature policy, this policy that is going to be so important—the largest medical research fund in the world—and we are making amendments on the membership of the advisory board at half past 12 when the bill is going to be carried by lunchtime. This is not the way to consult and this is not the way to do business. This is not the way to govern. This should have been done better. The work on this bill was not done by this government, and it is a shame that we will end up with a bill that is substandard.

The intent of the bill, as Labor has said, is good, but the way we disperse these funds is fundamentally important to be absolutely transparent, absolutely unable to be politicised and absolutely assuring the taxpayers of our country and the research community that we will get the best outcomes from this money. Labor will be supporting these amendments. I wish we had had more consultation in the process.