Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I have a number of questions, given the way that the debate is now being structured, in relation to the timetables. I also have some questions in relation to the track-and-trace regimes, some legal ramifications and some questions in relation to the impact on small business. So perhaps we could deal with the timetable issues first.

I note that the bills have only been delayed by approximately two months and that they will still be passed by the Senate before the original time frames were set to start. I note the earliest date of commencement in the original draft was 1 January 2012 but the time lines have been extended for five months from 1 July 2012 to 1 December 2012. My question is: doesn't this show that the government's original time frames were somewhat unrealistic? Was the delay in the Senate the real reason for the extension of time or were there other reasons behind this?