Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Again, I appreciate the comment you're making, but, from my perspective and, I think, my colleagues' perspective, those are matters which could all be properly considered by the senators in this place. I come back to two of the other questions I asked. I note that I made a number of comments, Minister, so I'll return to those.

One of the scrutiny principles which the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation Committee considers is whether or not an instrument is lawfully made under the power of the act. That is a key scrutiny principle, which I think you would be familiar with, Minister. And it is a key role of the scrutiny committee to actually consider whether an instrument is lawful. And, whilst the instrument might be based upon advice of the department, there have been numerous occasions whilst I've been serving on the scrutiny committee, when instruments have been put forward and the scrutiny committee has gone back to the department and the minister and queried whether or not the instrument could be properly made under the terms of the act.

There's certainly one example in relation to the ARENA legislation where it was ultimately determined that no, it couldn't be. That goes to the heart of whether or not an instrument is properly made within the ambit of the act. Isn't that an important scrutiny principle and an important matter for this Senate to consider in determining whether or not something should be subject to disallowance?