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Comment by ChrisKnott | Hacker News Reader

In what way was this bill "rushed through Australian parliament in 24 hours"? The bill in question is dated 2020 and the committee was requesting submissions by 12th February[0]

[0] https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joi...

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You’re quite right, but it is exceptional that the bill passed the House of Representatives on the same day as its second reading speech, and passed the Senate on the following day [1]. This means that there was little time for debate and amendment within Parliament itself, including by minor parties [2] and independents [3] not represented on the committee that reviewed the first draft of the bill.

[1] https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislat...

[2] https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display....

[3] https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display....

Doesn’t it pass that quickly because it got enough votes? In other words there wasn’t enough dissent to require further readings and debate because enough people were happy with it.

That’s a necessary condition for any bill to pass, but as explained in [2] and [3], this one followed an exceptional procedure which reduced the opportunity for parliamentarians outside the two major parties to consider, propose and persuade others to endorse amendments to the bill. The opposition was also “concerned” about aspects of it, but voted yes because of the “tension between how quickly criminals can adapt their trade craft and how long it takes to properly scrutinise and introduce the legislation required to counteract and disrupt criminal activity” [4].

[4] https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display....

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