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

I indicate our support for this government amendment. Perhaps the minister could reflect on the type of amendment that is being made by the government here, where it is inserting definitions for ‘aviation security identification card’, ‘Commonwealth authority’ and ‘maritime security identification card’. I think it makes the point that I have been perhaps belabouring through the evening: that the government had not turned its mind properly to the legislation to ensure fundamental things like definitions were included within the legislation. And they are now finding that they have to include them to make sense of how the legislation will work.

That should not be a matter we are addressing now. That should have been addressed very early on in the legislative drafting stage with the checking of the bill by the department. Those issues should have been picked up long before the bill went to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. I can only express disappointment that the government is doing it on the run. It should have been more diligent in ensuring these matters were dealt with.

This will be the last amendment for the evening and the bill will then gain support and pass with the government’s amendments. I will conclude by saying that the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs did expose many of the shortcomings of this bill. The government has taken the opportunity to accept the recommendations of the committee and improve the bill’s overall operation. I thank the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.

Bill reported with amendments; report adopted.