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

The bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on 15 February, and I had already announced that, because of the urging of the native title groups, we were urging the parliament to deal with the matter urgently. Now, the parliament, obviously, has not dealt with the matter urgently because four months have now elapsed and we are still debating it. Nevertheless, if you are seeking to establish some kind of cause-and-effect link between the Prime Minister's discussions with Mr Adani in India and the bill, you are completely wrong, Senator Waters. The government determined upon this course in response to the request of the traditional owners within days of the McGlade decision being delivered by the Federal Court in the first week of February.