Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Whilst Labor supports the ability for matters to be reviewed where appropriate and necessary, one of the difficulties with this amendment is that, unfortunately, it probably goes beyond what was considered in the committee as to how it would apply and obviously it goes beyond the ability for Customs to provide an answer. I wanted to ask one clarifying question as to whether this would apply to all decisions by the collector under the Customs Act or whether it would only apply to the section 234AA areas. It seems to state, ‘A decision by the collector under this act is subject to judicial review.’ If that were the intent then it goes beyond what the bill would otherwise seek to do. If you are now seeking that all collector’s decisions be subject to judicial review, that is a matter which, I would think, could be subject to greater scrutiny by the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. The collector makes a wide range of decisions, not just those in the section 234AA areas. I will not foreshadow it on your behalf but I suspect there are other ways to amend it to accord to your desire—if it were to be a more narrow application. I am not minded to make amendments on the run and so therefore I agree with the principle but, in this instance, I am not prepared to go the extra mile and agree with the amendment.