Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

Eventually the secretariat forwarded me an email with the report attached. We then had until 8 am this morning to digest that report and provide any additional comments or dissenting remarks. We met that time frame, but I want everyone in this place to understand how ludicrous that process was. I have finally managed to get a copy of the Greens' additional comments to that report. Examples of how ludicrous are illustrated by a couple of things represented in their comments. In the Greens' comments to the chair's report they reflect on the issue that some people are raising the concern that there may be an advantage to the coalition in this deal. Do you know what they do not deal with in this report? It is the advantage to the Greens. The issue that former Prime Minister John Howard raised which is: this dirty deal will entrench the Greens Party. The Greens did not even have enough time to deal with that issue in their report. They have the former Prime Minister highlighting the consequences of this deal and they cannot even try to mount some counter except, 'Senator Conroy didn’t use all of his questioning time.' How absolutely ludicrous.

The committee process was a farce, and I made that point with a message. I have never, in 20 years in this place, participated in a committee inquiry where the government refused to allow the relevant department to appear, and I wonder why. Senator Cormann would not allow his department to appear and, indeed, he is not dealing with his own legislation. What is this government hiding? That is the real question.

The other issue, which is entertaining about the Greens additional comments, is that when they talk about resourcing and preparation they say, 'We're going to make sure that there's enough time.' They are not even allowing the full three months that the AEC said was absolutely necessary to implement these changes. They make recommendations that the Department of Finance be instructed to do some things, and we have not even heard from the department.

This process has been a joke and it is a joke that has been perpetrated by this coalition and naively accepted by the Australian Greens. The naivety that is involved here is highlighted time and time again as we get new amendments.