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

As Senator Cash has indicated, this is the subject of an amendment that the opposition will be moving. Fundamentally, what this comes down to is that the government considers that the commissioner will be best placed to determine whether to conduct a public hearing, including whether it is in the public interest and whether exceptional circumstances justify doing so. The commissioner will be required to ensure that the benefits of holding hearings in public are balanced with other potential negative impacts. We should not operate on the presumption that the commissioner, who will have extensive legal expertise, will not apply this test in a rigorous, fair and dispassionate manner.