Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

I would hate to commit myself to something that is not necessarily deliverable, but, to confirm, the workshop will be held within the next few weeks. As we have indicated, we do hope to have legislation into this place by the end of the year. I fully agree with and endorse Senator Cameron's comments about the importance of not having uncertainty in any area. I agree that in this area it is just as important, if not more important, than in some other areas of our legislative endeavours. So you can be assured it is front of mind and we have people in the department working efficiently to try to get an outcome as quickly as possible. But, given the vagaries of this great place, and the legislative timetable in this place is not necessarily up to the government to determine—sometimes bills take longer and sometimes less time is taken—I simply indicate we will use our best endeavours to ensure that this legislation still can be dealt with this calendar year.