Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — In order to assist with the efficient operation of the committee today I will inform the chamber of Labor’s position in relation to all of the proposed amendments. The bill was amended substantially by Labor in the Legislative Assembly. There were substantive discussions between the shadow Attorney-General, the member for Lyndhurst, and the Attorney-General and agreements were reached on a range of items.
Some of the amendments initiated by Labor reverse the time reductions in the Coroners Court and do things like fixing the problems with Transport Accident Commission appeals. We believe there were meaningful improvements made to the bill in the Assembly.
With respect to the systemic review of family violence deaths, Labor’s position is that this is a funding issue and not a legislation issue, and we have already committed to restoring the funding in this area in government. We believe Labor has already rectified the major flaws in the bill and made appropriate commitments like those relating to the systemic review. In saying that, Labor will not be supporting the amendments at this time. We believe the work done in the Legislative Assembly was appropriate in the circumstances.