Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

The government will also be opposing each of the opposition amendments. We've traversed why in the earlier discussions, so I won't go over it in great detail. I want to reinforce the point that one amendment that the opposition is moving, in our view, seeks to limit the past conduct that the anticorruption commissioner could investigate. The ability to investigate past conduct was an important difference between the model the government is putting forward and what the opposition put forward when they were in government. We don't think that we should be limiting the commission's powers to investigate past conduct. We think we should leave it to the commission to determine that rather than putting restrictions around that. We will be opposing these amendments for reasons I have gone into previously and for reasons the Attorney-General detailed in the House.

The CHAIR: I put the question, as moved by Senator Cash, that amendments (1) to (30), (32) and (33) be agreed to.

The CHAIR (12:57): I now put the question that clause 115 stand as printed.

Question agreed to.