Alex White (Labour)

There is a clear logic to what Senator Quinn said and the basis of his proposal. He is left in a position where the only way he can introduce it and have it included in the Bill is to make commencement of the legislation contingent on the making of a regulatory analysis about which he spoke. I take what the Minister of State said in querying the constitutionality of such a proposal, that the passing into law of a measure would be made contingent on something else happening. There is probably some merit to that argument but the issue of substance Senator Quinn raised is that all such legislation should be made subject to a regulatory analysis to ensure best practice. He is absolutely right to look for this. However, as he said, he is placed in a position where the only way he can introduce this meritorious proposal, given that the legislation has been so rushed, is to look at the commencement provisions and link his proposal to that mechanism. It would have been preferable if it could have been done in another way but there was no time to do so. I fall back on the logic of Senator Quinn's proposal which is unanswerable.

There is another side to the argument in section 8 or section 9 related to structural separation. There is a clear commercial interest and problem which has been discussed with me and must be addressed. There is also the wider public issue at which we need to look. Many of us have made the point in the House that when one goes into a shop to buy a newspaper, one trips over alcohol. That issue needs to be addressed. However, sticking to this proposal, in the explanatory memoranda to all legislation we are told a scan has been done to assess the cost, if any, to the Exchequer. That is a standard statement in all explanatory memoranda. In this instance it is stated there will be no significant financial implications for the Exchequer. It is right we are told this but, similarly, it should be possible for legislators to know, or to have the means to assess, the cost to interested parties resulting from its implementation.