Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to thank senators for agreeing to the amendments proposed by the opposition. I am sure there will be many ordinary Australians with this record hanging over their heads who will tonight be very much relieved. I am disappointed that the government has gone back on its pre-election commitment to support an approach along these lines. As I indicated previously, if there had been a better way of doing this then we would have been keen for the new government to come forward and show the way. They have the resources of a huge department. They have the resources of the Attorney-General’s Department and the very qualified solicitors and counsel who—