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

Senator, I did see those remarks reported in the media this morning, and, as I was indicating in my answer to your primary question, of course decisions like this draw attention from a range of people in the community. It was certainly the case when a similar decision was made by Ms Ley in the previous government, under the same act, under the same section. There were a range of opinions in the local community, some supportive, some very disappointed. But the fact remains that the act requires the minister to consult on the application before her, and in this case she did so. She took advice from three different Indigenous organisations in the local area, as I understand it, and the advice I have is that two of them were opposed and one of them was neutral. And that was amongst the evidence considered by Ms Plibersek in making the decision that she made under the law.