Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday we had the deplorable situation where the bill was before the committee and amendments were being debated without an explanatory memorandum to explain some very significant terms: 'supports and facilitates' and 'class of persons'. The minister last night could not answer what the committee was asking and instead said the explanatory memorandum would be circulated first thing this morning. We still do not have the explanatory memorandum. This is making a complete farce of the committee and this legislation. We need that explanatory memorandum and we need to hear from the minister what exactly is meant by the terms 'class of persons' and 'supports or facilitates'. This is about how Australian citizens are going to be treated under these counter-terrorism laws. We need to know how a class of persons is going to be defined and that is why we need the explanatory memorandum.