Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Attorney-General, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:38): I think it would be good practice, Senator McKim, to acquaint yourself with the provisions of the bill before you start criticising it. Senator Ian Macdonald: Mr President, I rise on a point of order. I am sitting not two metres from Senator Brandis and I cannot hear him because of the constant interjection by the leader of the opposition, who just never stops yelling. The PRESIDENT: Order! I remind all senators not to interject, so we can hear the question and the answer. Senator BRANDIS: Senator McKim, I suggest, with respect, that before you start criticising a bill you should acquaint yourself with its provisions. Nothing you have said in your question accurately reflects any provision of the bill. The fact is the bill was referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. That committee made 27 recommendations, and the 27th recommendation was that the bill with amendments be passed. The 26 substantive recommendations were recommendations to enhance the operation of the bill to protect the rights of the individual and to protect the rule of law and to ensure that there was an even greater level of parliamentary scrutiny, in particular through the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, than there hitherto had been. The government adopted all of those recommendations. Senator McKim, you say the bill is flawed. I accept that in good faith you may have criticisms of the bill, and no doubt we will debate that matter when the bill comes before the Senate, but it is not legally flawed. That is the advice of the Commonwealth Solicitor-General which was conveyed to the committee— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. A point of order, Senator McKim? Senator McKim: The question to the Attorney was on what basis does he believe it acceptable to strip citizenship from Australian nationals without providing for that decision to be made by the courts or tested in the courts before it is made. I would appreciate you pointing the Attorney in the direction of that question. The PRESIDENT: Senator McKim, that was the third point of your question. There were three points to your question. The Attorney-General has been relevant to the question. Senator BRANDIS: I thought I would mention that to you, Senator McKim, that the Solicitor-General has given advice to that effect. Senator McKim, you asked on what basis does the government, and indeed the opposition, believe that it is acceptable. We believe it is acceptable that if a person renounces their allegiance to Australia by engaging in serious terrorist crimes of which Australian citizens are the innocent victims, that is a sufficient basis. (Time expired)