Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

or O'NEILL () (): I don't know about other people in this chamber but I find that so much goes on you've got to try and remember what you did even a couple of days ago. What we're talking about here is a period of 10 years ago. I could ask people in this space to think back 10 years. Where were you? What was the technology like around you? What was going on?

The legislation being made in this instance is about a type of technology that is very novel. It's a type of technology, I do want to repeat, that the committee that inquired into this bill sought to find information about. It couldn't get that information because, even though a trial has been in operation in the UK for five years, data and information to inform our practice is impossible. So after half of that period of 10 years that this bill seeks to push out to, a period of five years, the UK has still been unable to give us anything to work with or to fashion our ideas around.

Senator Keneally has made the point that there are people who are going to vote for this bill. It's pretty clear from what I have said, and my stance on other issues, that I am going to be voting against the passage of this bill. But I endorse the comments of my colleagues Senator Canavan and Senator Keneally. The role of the Senate is to provide a degree of oversight and care in considering the legislation that is advanced to us from the House. In this instance, with technology that is so potentially significant—and possibly positive—but unknowable at the moment because of a lack of transparency, we should be more mindful about what we do than those in the UK were. I think the time line that is set here is just too far. So I urge senators to give it serious consideration and support the amendment that is before Senator Canavan. It doesn't prevent the legislation going through; it is not at odds with the legislation—even for those who are voting for it—but it is an issue of care and concern for good parliamentary practice. If senators of this country aren't up for the task of looking to good parliamentary practice then I don't know who's going to do the work for us. We're here, we're on the front line and we should support this amendment in the interests of Australians.