Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

If you want an example of how not to legislate something that is important and of moment to our community, have a look at this piece of legislation. It arrived in the parliament last Thursday, spent four hours in a Senate inquiry on Monday night, and we're expected to pass with effectively very little debate in this place. Quite frankly, the legislation deserved a proper parliamentary process, and this government shows its disrespect for the parliament and the Australian community by trying to shove it through in the way that it is.

As many across the chamber have said—and I'm surprised to see some of the 'coalition', if you like, that's opposing this legislation—it really hasn't had the work that needs to be done. This is a genuinely important issue for our community. I don't diminish for a moment the pain and anguish that people have felt through the impact of online bullying on their children and families. I don't diminish that for a moment. I feel it; I've been close to families who have seen it, as we most likely all have. But this is not the way to deal with it. This is not the way that a parliament properly deals with a matter of this moment. The concept of excluding a huge swathe of our community from a form of communication just does not sit well with me. I respect my colleagues and I respect the arguments that are being made by those who want to do something—and clearly we should be doing something—but this is not the way to do it.

In that circumstance, I cannot vote for this legislation. It should not be rammed through in the way that it is. It won't come into place until 2026, so the government should do the parliament and our community the respect of looking at this process properly, so we can make sure we can come up with something that will work—that will support our families and communities and mitigate the problems that are there. I fear that this is not it.