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

As you're aware, we have very limited information from the High Court at this point in time on which to base decisions around the release of these individuals, the precautions we place around these individuals in their release, and the drafting of legislation. What we have attempted to do with this legislation—the original legislation introduced by the government and the amendments that have been proposed by the opposition, which are now being moved in some cases by the government and in some cases by the opposition—is to abide by that limited information that the High Court has provided, also taking into account other drafting principles and constitutional law requirements that sit outside that High Court decision.

I'm not sure if you were in the chamber, Senator Shoebridge, when I made the point that there does remain a degree of constitutional risk around the amendments that are being proposed, in particular around some of the further amendments the opposition has put forward, but our view was that the most important thing to do here was to pass legislation through the parliament which provided the Australian people with the level of protection that they would expect from their governments and from their parliaments, considering the background of some of the individuals who have been released. We believe that the amendments that we're proposing do satisfy these constitutional tests, but until we receive the reasons from the High Court there is obviously a level of constitutional risk around them. That doesn't mean we do nothing, because we think that, in addition to the precautions and the conditions that we've placed around the release of these individuals, further action is necessary to assure the Australian people of their safety.