Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is a very important motion, and I appreciate that the Senate has supported it and I appreciate the views of Senator Milne as have been expressed on the record. I am not clear whether the government have made their position clear, and perhaps they could make it clear. I was of the view that the government were not supportive of the motion, but they have not made their position clear to me and I do not want to misrepresent their position one way or the other. I think it would be useful to have on the record whether they support the motion or not.

This is a very important matter for northern Tasmania and north-west Tasmania. I was very hopeful that the Labor senators, particularly from Tasmania, would support this motion for the sake of the future of the Australian Technical College Northern Tasmania. It is a very important matter for northern Tasmania and it is very important to get that on the record. It would be useful to have that clarified by government senators so that we have on the record whether they supported the motion or not.