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

Parliamentary Secretary, if you had listened to my question, it was simply: has the government sought legal advice on their position under the Australia-Hong Kong bilateral investment treaty? I ask that question because this was one of the very important issues raised by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee. In particular, they were concerned that the legislation may violate the 1993 Australia-Hong Kong investment treaty. The possibility was raised that Philip Morris may sue the Commonwealth over plain packaging under the expropriation and investor state dispute settlement provisions of the treaty. As Ms Gleeson and Mr Legge of the School of Public Health and Human Biosciences at Latrobe University explained:

Expropriation, in ordinary usage, means dispossessing property owners of their property.

This was raised in the hearing. My question is not what is the legal advice; it is simply whether you have sought legal advice.