Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Nampijinpa Price, for the question. As you are aware, we've talked about this issue in this chamber for a number of weeks now in response to questions asked by people opposite. As I've made clear repeatedly, on this side of the chamber we apply the law, and there are a range of reasons why it should be obvious to those opposite that that is an important principle. In a decent society, the law is not an instrument to be weaponised, and we know what happens when governments don't apply the law—when governments take a different approach. We know what that looks like. We've seen it. It looks like robodebt. It looks like resources allocated on the basis of colour coded spreadsheets. It looks like car parks and sports rorts all over again. Working outside the law is a dangerous way to operate. It is a recipe for uncertainty and it's designed—