Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

Details matter here. Details do really matter. People's lives are at risk. You've got to be across your brief; you've got to get it together. With something this important, this is absolutely critical. So here we are. The bill is being rushed through parliament at 10 seconds to midnight because this government wants to appear like it is doing something.

The government's failure to act on the recommendations of the Bean review, which it accepted and agreed to in full 18 months ago, is lazy and shows disregard for our vital triple 0 network. This bill, at face value, does little more than add bureaucratic layers to an existing process that already has multiple failure points. I implore you to do a full review of the triple 0 ecosystem. I implore the minister to conduct that independent review. Find out the failure points, fix them and ensure that this system works. The minister cannot continue to patchwork quilt or apply bandaids to something that isn't working. Australians deserve more. They expect more. It is on the minister as the steward of the system to deliver that, and I won't stop. I won't back down. It might get annoying to some, but, when a system so important is broken, you need to do your job. You need to fix it.

I foreshadow that I will be moving detailed amendments to strengthen this bill, even though we have been given 24 hours notice, because, unlike those opposite, I want to properly fix and protect the triple zero network. Colleagues on this side have been doing all they can over those few hours to contribute to fixing the system, because we care. We care about Australians when they are in their greatest need. People are depending on us to get this right, so we will support this bill and I implore—I deeply, deeply mean it—the Albanese Labor government to support my amendments. We come across a little bit aggressive now, but it's because we care about Australians, and we're moving these amendments because we know they will strengthen this bill. Albert Einstein is reported to have said, 'The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.' Don't let it blind your actions here. Do what is right and what will ensure that all Australians are safe and they can call triple 0 when they really need it.

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