Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition will not be supporting this motion today. Whilst we recognise Senator Burston's intent behind the motion, we do not believe it is sensible for the Senate to attempt to instruct the royal commission on how it should conduct its inquiry.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was established by the Gillard government in January 2013 and has conducted its incredibly important work with integrity and fairness for the last four years, free from political interference. The opposition notes that the royal commission is vested with significant powers, including the ability to compel evidence if required, and believes it should be allowed to operate without political interference. We expect that all individuals and institutions called to appear before the royal commission will provide full cooperation with its inquiries.

We did ask Senator Burston to postpone this notice of motion yesterday to allow for further discussions to take place, and we are grateful to him for doing so, but we regret that it is not possible to reach agreement on this occasion.