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

I won't be terribly long, so Senator McKim will have an opportunity to say something. I want to briefly respond. I welcome the constructive discussions that have occurred over the course of today between members of the government and members of the opposition. This has been a challenging episode for all Australians to deal with, with the High Court making the decision that overturned 20 years of accepted precedent. As is obviously known, the government introduced legislation to deal with the matter today. The opposition raised a number of issues that they thought needed to be addressed. We've always made clear that we wanted to ensure that we could deal with this issue as quickly as we possibly could, and we were willing to work with the opposition to address some of the issues they raised in order to have legislation passed so as to deal with this issue as quickly as possible.

One of the other things we've had to take into consideration was the constitutionality of any legislation that was introduced or further amendments that were considered. It has been somewhat more difficult to prepare legislation and ensure the constitutionality of any amendments in the absence of the full reasons from the High Court, but we consider that it is a matter of national priority and in the national interest to ensure that legislation is introduced and passed that keeps the safety of Australians paramount. That has been one of our concerns all along through this process. I know we've heard a number of comments from the Greens party, and will no doubt continue to do so tonight, that suggests that we should not be doing what we are attempting to do in this legislation, but the simple fact is that at least the Labor Party, and it would appear the coalition parties, do recognise we do have an obligation to the Australian people to keep them safe. There are a number of people who have been released who have serious criminal records, and we owe it to the Australian public to act as quickly as we can to maintain the safety of the Australian population. That's why we have moved quickly in preparing and introducing this legislation. We have been willing to work with the opposition to pass this legislation as quickly as possible so as to assure Australians of their safety in the wake of this High Court decision which, as I said, overturned 20 years of legal precedent.

I thought it was worth putting some context around what is happening here. As I say, it's been a little difficult to prepare this legislation in the absence of the reasons. But some of us do take our responsibility for national security and community safety seriously, Senator McKim. It's a matter for you and your party as to whether you place weight on that whatsoever. I look forward to us being able to consider this legislation and pass it as quickly as possible, so that the matter is dealt with.