Katherine Zappone (Independent)

This has been a thoughtful and reflective debate. I want to begin by thanking all Senators for their contributions, including those who might be at odds with what we propose and those who are with us.

At the end of the Minister's speech I was reminded of a theory I studied when doing some graduate work in number of years ago, namely ethical education. We studied the theory that there are two kinds of people, those who are open-minded and those who are of closed minds. As ethical educators we try to encourage those young people we work with who might appear to be of closed minds to move towards open-mindedness. With the Minister's speech and reflection he demonstrated himself to be a man who has a character of open-mindedness and is not afraid of a diversity of views. I hope we can promise we are not either. As Senator Hayden said, in putting forward the motion we have acknowledged it is important to have a wide-ranging, public, informed debate and hear a diversity of views.

As part of that, evidence, critical analysis, stories, ethical principles and legal analysis will surface. The best judgment from the Government will come through a discernment on the basis of all of that. One can only do that if one is open-minded. It will lead towards, as the Minister stated in his speech, something that will be sensible, comprehensive and effective. I am certain the Minister will agree with the remarks of many of Senators that while this is not only about law it does concern law and reform is required.

On the basis of the items in the Government amendment to our motion, as outlined by Senators Bradford and Cummins, the commitments of the Minister to us outlined in his speech on the publication of a report, an approximate time frame - we appreciate the need to be flexible and heard the words of Senator O'Brien - and his promise to come back to us to debate this issue we will not press for a vote.

We will come together on this issue. We appreciate the Minister's workload. I wonder if there is anything we can do to help share in that. I can promise-----