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

Yes, I was. I want to make a few observations about that amendment in the debate. From the Australian Greens' point of view, we're not too sure what the fuss is about, here, in terms of Labor's position, and we will be supporting the opposition's amendment.

Eight weeks is not a particularly long period for an inquiry. These bills create an important agency, and it's important that we get this agency right. The Senate absolutely needs to do its job here. We make the very reasonable observation that the government has a jobs summit coming up on 1 and 2 September. Obviously that's a really important summit, and we want to understand what the outcomes are from that really important jobs summit in time for those outcomes to be fed into the committee's considerations and, ultimately, the deliberations of the Senate around this legislation. We believe that the outcomes of the jobs summit should have the capacity to help shape Jobs and Skills Australia, the agency established by this legislation.

I want to make a couple of very quick and preliminary observations on Jobs and Skills Australia as proposed in this legislation. There is no mechanism beyond a consultation mechanism for stakeholders' voices to be heard and acted on, and we do note this is a big step backwards from previous Australian Labor Party machinery that has empowered and resourced diverse sectoral voices at the table. We also note that the advice parameters appear, as a preliminary assessment, to be very narrowly focused around data and analysis.

We want this inquiry to have the capacity to consider and explore those issues and any other issues that stakeholders bring up. Jobs and Skills Australia will be a critical agency and the Senate has to get it right. The Greens believe that an inquiry that reports, as is proposed by the opposition, on 23 September strikes the right balance between getting it done and making sure it's done right.