Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

Even if you say that it was commissioned by the cabinet, the doctrine clearly states that the document must be a submission of cabinet. It must at its point of birth have had submission to cabinet as its dominant purpose. Cabinet submissions typically have a particular form. Cabinet guidelines state that they shouldn't be more than about 50 pages. I wonder how many pages this particular document is. It's very clear in law that you cannot just tack a report onto the back of a cabinet submission and have that document attract the protection of the doctrine. In this instance the government has a half report out there, which may not even be fair to Mr Ruddock and his views. What has been put out is disturbing. The best thing I could encourage the government to do, even without the need for a motion to be brought tomorrow, would be to simply table the document in accordance with the original order. Let's resolve the controversy.