George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Lest it be lost on you—through you, Mr President—Senator Cameron, it has been the position of the Prime Minister and of every member of the government, and it ought to be your position, quite frankly, to respect the decisions of independent arbiters; particularly, I might say, an independent arbiter which your side of politics when in government established to be an independent arbiter. This, Senator Cameron, is essentially an issue of the rule of law. Whether you agree with the determination or you disagree with the determination, whether you might wish that the determination had been otherwise, the fact remains that this is a determination made by an independent body—established by your side of politics to be an independent body—as a result of a transparent process on the basis of arguments put before it, and that decision by an independent body ought to be respected by everyone. It certainly is by the government.