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

Again, the decisions the government has made on all of these matters have been informed by the advice of the Community Protection Board. The Community Protection Board comprises former and serving police and other security officials who this government has complete faith in. If Senator Paterson or any of the other interjecting senators want to criticise the government for the way that we've handled this, what they are actually doing is criticising people like former police commissioners who we are relying on for advice about all of these matters. If we want to have trumped-up senators who want to spend their time scaring the Australian community and if we want to rely on their advice rather than that of former police commissioners and people who actually take into account community safety issues each and every day, that's a matter for the opposition. The government is prepared and willing to rely on that advice from high-quality personnel.