David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I've been listening into the debate, and the concern is rightly about communities across the country. I recognise the need to deal with this swiftly after the decision, but clearly there's a lot of haste here, with amendments being circulated not long before we are to vote on them. I understand that this bill will go through, but, in light of the fact that Australia doesn't have a human rights act or the equivalent of a bill of rights and given just how rushed this, these are clearly not optimal conditions for legislating. But I understand the urgency, so I have circulated an amendment to insert a six-month sunset clause on this so that provisions can be put in place but it will require the parliament to come back and have a more thought-out, detailed plan on how to deal with this situation going forward once we have the full decision from the court. I understand that the major parties will get this through, and I support there being provisions to look after people in our community, but I really do think that this should be looked at again next year.