Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the deputy chair of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, I support this motion because this is democracy in action. I speak on behalf of veterans across this country who came before us in every guise to say, 'This bill is so flawed.' This bill is so flawed it cannot proceed. The fact that this bill is still on the Notice Paper demonstrates that this government is not listening.

I am not able to discuss private discussions and committee discussions that I've had with Senator Ciccone and other members of our committee, because they are confidential. But I want to put on the record one thing very clearly to Minister Gallagher. The shadow minister for veterans' affairs, Mr Chester, has been imploring Minister Keogh to withdraw this bill all week. I think it's also fair to say—