Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Once again, the Australian Greens will be supporting the amendment put forward by Senator Patrick. I just want to talk a little bit about sunset clauses in general. It's important that people understand that parliaments can effectively roll over sunset clauses. Just because the parliament might decide today to put a sunset clause into this amendment bill, that does not mean that the powers created by this amendment bill would necessarily cease when the date of sunset arrives. Sunsets can effectively be rolled over. But even if they are rolled over, they are an important instrument, because they basically ensure that the full parliament will actually examine this legislation again, in this case in four years, as Senator Patrick has suggested for the sunset period. That's very important with legislation like this, which is draconian and removes fundamental rights and freedoms from Australian people.

So, anyone who is opposing this is just basically opposing a simple check and a balance. And to forestall the obvious argument that I suspect will be made against what I've just said—which is, 'Oh, we've just agreed that the PJCIS should review this division'—I'd just remind Labor and Liberal senators that in fact the crossbench, which is actually operating in a very constructive way here this evening and has obtained the support of the Senate in one of Senator Patrick's amendments, is not represented on the PJCIS. It is a closed shop where the dirty deals get done between the two major parties in this place to keep marching us down the road to a police state and a surveillance state in Australia. That's what happens in the PJCIS. The control freaks are happy, but those of us who want a genuine debate in this country about whether we would prefer to lose fundamental rights and freedoms or take a bit more risk in our lives and come down against the removal of fundamental rights and freedoms—and I am squarely in that camp, by the way, if you hadn't picked it up—are not happy with the PJCIS review, and we want to see the full parliament required to at least consider this legislation at a regular interval. Senator Patrick's amendment that would seek to create a sunset clause in this amendment bill is an appropriate mechanism to do that, and it will be supported by the Australian Greens.