David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'll stop saying nice things about the government. But, with the history of that work—then coming in without talking to any of the key stakeholders and not even talking to the tribunal itself—how could they bring a bill that is amending the tribunal without getting the views of the tribunal? I invite those members who might be thinking to vote against this resolution to read the submission from the tribunal. The tribunal itself said that this bill is not only unnecessary; it's harmful for their work. In many ways, by bringing this motion up, we're actually doing the government a favour. It's a nice, clean, early kill to a bill which has no friends and which causes the Labor Party harm every day it's on the Notice Paper. Most of the time the work in the veteran space is multipartisan. We try and work it out to help the veterans community, because we all care about ensuring the outcome to help the veterans community, and this bill really stands out as being seriously against that flow. I say again that every minute it's on the Notice Paper it's causing actual harm in the veterans community. Let's get this urgency motion done. Let's get the motion adopted, and then, if there are significant issues—and they have yet to be ventilated through this bill—in how the tribunal works, work with the veterans community, talk through the issues and come forward with something which we can all agree on.