Hon Christopher Finlayson

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General) on behalf of the Minister of Immigration: I move, That the Immigration Act 2009 Amendment Bill be now read a third time. Once again, I thank honourable members for their generosity of spirit in facilitating the expeditious passage of this bill.

Can I simply say that during the Committee stage an issue arose about the appointment of the tribunal. My understanding is that those particular matters have barely advanced, so we will get on with that now. This bill is looking as though it will pass. This bill is an important bill, though a very specific one, and it will help the implementation process by ensuring that certain implementation tasks can be done in advance of what could be called the “go live” date of the commencement of the bill.

Hon Darren Hughes: Such modern language.

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: My response to the chief Opposition whip is to tell him to get with it. It is time to move on. One cannot live in the past all the time.

I will not go through section 474 in any great detail, because there are certain things the Governor-General has to do—for example, appoint members, including the chair, to the tribunal. The Prime Minister has to do certain things, the Minister has to do certain things, and the Attorney-General has to do certain things with the chair of the tribunal, like agree on any general practices and procedures that may be necessary in relation to proceedings involving classified information heard by the tribunal, which could be a very important matter once the tribunal gets under way. Then I have to agree with the Chief Justice on any general practices and procedures that may be necessary for other proceedings involving classified information provisions.

There is a lot of practical work that needs to done, and that is why we need to get on with it as quickly as we can, why the Immigration Act 2009 Amendment Bill has been needed, and why I have come down to the House in sackcloth and ashes to accept blame on behalf of the Government. I will flagellate myself later on, and then I will go to confession. There we have it; a mistake was made, and I have manfully and with some courage accepted it. Now, having accepted it, we move on, as I am exhorted to by the chief Government whip. I commend the bill to the House.