Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I will be very brief. It is deeply disappointing that the government and the Greens have combined to block fair dinkum scrutiny of this legislation. We note the only proposal left on the table to actually have any Senate inquiry at all is to have this rushed, curtailed inquiry that is being forced upon the Senate by the Labor Party and the Greens with complete disregard to the interests of Australian small businesses or the opportunities for those businesses to be heard, and heard properly, or indeed the opportunities for crossbench senators and others to give proper, serious consideration to this legislation.

Let it fall upon the government's head if those senators come back to this place, when they seek to rush this legislation through in the final two sitting weeks, and those senators say, 'We haven't had a chance to properly consider it,' or, 'Business tells us they haven't had a proper chance consider it.' Let it be on your heads, Labor Party and Greens, if the consequence when it comes to your legislation being considered is that the message is that there hasn't been time, there hasn't been proper consideration, and that the voices of Australian small businesses are emphatically, 'We haven't had a chance to get across the detail of it.' However, some inquiry is better than no inquiry and so, despite the opposition's deep reservations about this rushed inquiry, we will give those who have the chance the opportunity to participate in at least getting their voices heard, but we know this will be woefully inadequate, and it all hangs and sits on the Labor Party's heads.