Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to briefly speak to the seventh report. As Senator Smith said, there are 42 bills and 218 instruments in the seventh report of this parliament, which is only six months old. I want to express my appreciation to the members of the committee and the secretariat, and to Senator Smith for his chairmanship of this committee since the government came to power. This committee was established by the former government. I was privileged to be a member of the committee from its formation and have continued to be actively involved. It is an incredibly important committee. What we see in the work of this committee is a totally non-partisan approach to the task at hand. The key principles about whether the legislation or the instruments before the committee are reasonable, necessary and proportionate underpin all the work that we do.

I commend the committee and I commend Senator Dean Smith for the improvements to the process that he has introduced. They have been very thoughtful and very helpful, because we can sometimes be overwhelmed by the amount of work that is present to us. I thank the committee for the opportunity to be part of such an important part of our legislative process.

Question agreed to.