Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank most senators in this debate for having kept their contributions very brief, and I will be doing the same. In relation to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Township Leasing) Bill 2007, I think it needs to be recalled that the substantive bill, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006, was in fact referred to the relevant committee for detailed consideration. The amendment bill deals with the issue of being able to allow the first township lease to be in place on the Tiwi Islands by July, when it is expected to be signed. We hope this legislation will come into force at the end of this financial year so that Aboriginal landowners will be actually given some degree of choice, which I understand the stakeholders in fact want.

In relation to Senator Siewert’s comments on this piece of legislation, in fairness, questions that you think are important at Senate estimates are not necessarily answered as the information is not at officials’ fingertips. In Senator Siewert’s contribution she indicated that she was provided with an answer a few hours later, which I think indicates that we are as responsive as we possibly can be and, of course, so are the departmental officials present. The fact that they do not have all the information at their fingertips all the time is not a matter for which any criticism ought to be levelled. It is good news for anybody listening that the officials go away and, within a matter of hours, are able to provide the answers that are being sought.

Regarding Senator Bartlett’s contribution, I think we got a tick and a cross in relation to the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Testing) Bill 2007. That is a new bill and we thought it appropriate that it be given appropriate time for consideration. We are looking forward to seeing full consideration by the committee in relation to that. As I said regarding the Aboriginal land rights legislation, it is just an amendment to legislation that was looked into substantively by the relevant committee only last year.

The Higher Education Legislation Amendment (2007 Budget Measures) Bill 2007 is a budget measure and needs to be passed as soon as possible to provide certainty to universities who will start receiving first-round applications in September this year. Universities need to make plans now for the courses they will be offering next year. Those are the reasons: it is a budget measure and it is something that universities need to prepare themselves for by 1 January 2008. That is why we want this piece of legislation dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

Question agreed to.