Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, Senator Macdonald is quite right. The government does not support a sunset clause for this legislation, and it is indeed our intention for the legislation to operate on an ongoing basis, which is something the government has made clear all the way through. In relation to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, the difficulty I have is that, as all senators know, the government does not have the numbers in the Senate at present. In two years time it will be up to the Senate at that time to decide whether or not they proceed with this inquiry. From the government's point of view we support the Senate's reviewing of legislation and the Senate committee system through which legislation is reviewed. We would support an inquiry of the type that is proposed by the committee, but we are not be able to bind a future Senate, and it will be a question for the Senate ultimately as to if and how that proceeds.