Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

You want to take it back, but it has not been given illegally in the first place. It has been legally granted. It is within the power and the competence of the parliament to say, ‘We will delegate this power to the executive of the Commonwealth to overrule legislation.’ That is my argument anyway. If Senator Brown has a different argument I would love to hear it. When Senator Brown talks about the arrogance of government in exercising such powers, I have to say to him that it really is a matter of what you believe about the way in which that power is exercised. If he believes it is arrogant to override a territory parliament in these circumstances, I have to say to him that I think it was arrogant of the Hawke government to override the Tasmanian parliament in those circumstances.