Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, I want to continue on the discussions about the impact of this legislation on universities in particular, but also local governments and other agencies who are going to be impacted. We have heard that there was basically zero consultation before this legislation was being proposed with the universities. I also know that local governments only realised after the fact that they were also going to be impacted. There is a considerable concern from universities, and from local governments in particular, that if they enter into arrangements that can be retrospectively deemed to be not in our foreign policy interests and then be overturned, that—let's go to the universities—this is going to have a chilling effect on the ability of universities to enter into cooperative research arrangements with countries and other universities. I'm wanting to know what discussions you have had with the universities about the potential of this chilling effect? What can you say to assure universities, who basically told us during the committee hearings that it would mean that they would not feel that they are in a position to be able to enter into these arrangements because of the prospect that they couldn't guarantee that they would be able to be continued, because retrospectively, at some stage in the future, it could be decided that these arrangements were not in Australia's foreign policy interests?