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

I just want to add to what Senator Whish-Wilson is saying. I just want to point out to the minister that the name of this bill is the Customs Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation) Bill. This is the only opportunity for the parliament in its formal sense in the chamber to deal with the enabling of the TPP, and so I would ask that you give substantial latitude and be very cooperative. We're not talking about a customs act; we're talking about the acts of parliament that are required to enable an agreement that has taken a long time to negotiate and has been controversial. To come in here and then try to narrow this down to,' This is just a customs act' is in some sense disingenuous. I just wanted to state that.

Following up from Senator Whish-Wilson's question so as not to create a hypothetical, would the actual terms, as they currently stand—and I understand you've been very helpful by saying it comes back to JSCOT and goes through the process—require some enabling legislation for the treaty to enter into force notwithstanding it comes back to JSCOT? Is there some enabling legislation, not hypothetically, but with the current terms?