Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for the issues that he's raised. The government will not be supporting the amendments that have just been moved. I've been provided with information on the amendments. In the first instance, one of them does not specifically relate to the current bills before the House but relates to amendments that were previously considered and passed by the parliament earlier this year, as was partly referred to in the contribution just made. The view of the government is that the amendment would create uncertainty and increase legislative complexity through introducing untested terms in the legislation that haven't previously been considered—for example, native species without reference to whether or not they are matters of national environmental significance.

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