Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to this amendment. I don't wish to take a lot of the chamber's time, but I would like to reiterate what Senator O'Neill said in her second reading debate remarks. I indicate the opposition will be supporting this amendment. As foreshadowed by Senator O'Neill, the major Australian Law Reform Commission report into the Family Law Act and the family law system is due next March. We in Labor have called for the government to wait until that report is published to consider how best to make the significant changes of criminalising the breach of PPIs and to take action to legislate immediately thereafter. We believe that this would not impose a time delay on this change being made and, as under the original bill, the criminalisation of the PPI breaches would not have come into force until 12 months after royal assent—that is, after the public of the ALRC report at the end of March. I welcome the fact that the government has been willing to negotiate with Labor on this matter, and thank them also for their cooperation, and for this reason we will be supporting the amendment tonight.