Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

As I have said in relation to other similar questions which have been asked publicly in discussions on this issue, I actually don't think it's appropriate to pre-empt the implementation of this legislation and then the processes which will be required of the foreign minister to examine such issues under it. I'm not privy, for example, to the details of such an arrangement or commercial agreement between the Northern Territory government and the business concerned. I would expect that a responsible approach to matters such as this, and others which have also been asked of me, would be to ensure that, in the stocktake process, where the Commonwealth government receives from state and territory governments advice of arrangements into which they have entered, the details and context of those arrangements are provided. That will enable the foreign minister, whoever he or she is at the time, to make those decisions. But pre-empting that consideration is I think inappropriate.