David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

That was a somewhat odd contribution from the coalition, who tried to politicise a non-controversial bill, by pulling it out with an urgency motion earlier in the day. The main complaint being that it would be dealt with at eight o'clock instead of 10 am in the morning. Of all the things to get uptight about, that's not one.

The Greens are going to support this bill, but we're asking for some transparency from the government. What we have with this bill is an attempt to retrospectively validate the actions of the Commonwealth government, acting as an agent for a private insurer, since 1990. This Defence Services Home Building Insurance used to be provided directly by the Commonwealth, but then it was privatised in 1990. When the insurance product was privatised in 1990, the defence service insurer continued to appear to be providing it. They sort of badged up the private insurance and sold that badged up insurance as though it were a Commonwealth product.

It turns out that, in that rush to privatise in the 1990s—it was a Labor government, of course—they forgot to check whether that was lawful or not. It turns out that, at some point between 1990 and 2025, the government—whether it's this government or a former government—found it was unlawful. So we have been asking for some clarity about when that advice was first given and how long the government has known this was operating unlawfully, and we appreciate the minister providing that advice and clarity in response.

I also note that this comes about through Labor's privatisation, which is no doubt loved by the coalition. Between them, there's nothing they don't want to privatise. It turns out, once again, they've got themselves in a muddle. But, because we're worried about the individual veterans and because we are worried about individual families, we will support the validation so that the whole thing doesn't fall over.