Senator XENOPHON (South Australia) (11:47): I say this more in sorrow than in anger, but—yet again—we have another bill that is going to be rammed through without adequate scrutiny. We had amendments last night to the Fair Work legislation, which one of the architects of the Fair Work legislation—Professor Andrew Stewart, from the University of Adelaide—expressed serious concerns about. There was no committee stage for that bill. There was no appropriate scrutiny. Who knows what chaos will ensue from the provisions of that bill for both employees and employers alike around the country? Here we have a bill that is being rammed through. My contribution will be less than five minutes, because we only have another 11 minutes for the entire debate, to allow other senators to contribute. What has happened here this week is a disgrace. It is absolutely appalling that the house of review has been reduced to a rubber stamp. We have a situation where we cannot have any amendments being passed by this place, because—if we do—the House of Representatives has got up for the winter session. Senator Cormann interjecting— Senator XENOPHON: Senator Cormann says that we should. I take that interjection, because we should. We are meant to be a house of review. We will not have any committee stage to go through these issues. What beggars belief and what I cannot get my head around is that my colleagues the Australian Greens—who I have had a good and respectful working relationship with for a number of years now—have voted for this. I do not get it. I just do not get why they have gone down this path. It completely contradicts what Senator Bob Brown said back in 2005, during the Howard government, when they used the guillotine. But the Howard government, when they used the guillotine, were amateurs compared to what we have seen right here this week. This is disgusting. It is nothing short of disgusting. So let me go to this bill. I would like to indicate my support for measures in this bill; however, I believe they need to go further. I have circulated an amendment to this bill in response to concerns from Australian subcontractors. I am grateful to the member for New England, Tony Windsor MP, whose office approached me in relation to this, because it is a legitimate concern about contractors being left in the lurch. We have seen examples in recent times where companies that have won government tenders have left smaller subcontractors high and dry. These small Australian businesses deserve to know that companies that are awarded contracts are financially sound and able to meet their commitments. The amendment that I have moved would allow the minister to request certain tax information regarding a company, for the purpose of determining its financial situation. The minister will be able to release this information for the purpose of demonstrating the financial stability or otherwise of the company in question. I acknowledge that the government and the member for New England, Tony Windsor MP, have had extensive discussions about this issue. I was very pleased to take up Mr Windsor's concerns in relation to this, and I am grateful that he entrusted me with this. My office has had extensive discussions with the Assistant Treasurer's office, who expressed their support for this issue, if not for my amendment. I now have a letter, which I have shown to the whips of the parties present in the chamber, that I seek leave to table. It is from the Hon. David Bradbury MP, Assistant Treasurer. It is undated but it has just been provided to my office. I seek leave to table a true copy of this letter. Leave granted. Senator XENOPHON: I indicate that the Assistant Treasurer makes the point that the House of Representatives has concluded for this winter sitting. He says, 'This means it would not be feasible for any parliamentary amendments made in the Senate to be considered by the House of Representatives'—the point that Senator Cormann made earlier, in that very helpful interjection. So the best I can do, short of an amendment, is to get the undertakings from the Assistant Treasurer in relation to this. So I will not be proceeding with my amendment as a result of the undertakings given by the Assistant Treasurer, for which I am grateful. The Assistant Treasurer has stated that this issue—the disclosure of information—will be on the agenda for a meeting between the ATO, ASIC and APRA as part of a series of meetings, and that this matter needs to be resolved. The Assistant Treasurer has also indicated the government's broad support for a Senate Economics Legislation Committee inquiry into further support for subcontractors in this area. Once we are back after the election—my hot tip is that it will be on 21 September, but as you know I do not gamble so I will not be taking any bets—it is important that the Senate economics committee look at this issue so that we can deal with it comprehensively. I am grateful for the undertaking by the Assistant Treasurer, which has now been tabled, so I will not be proceeding with my amendments. But I say again: for goodness sake, let's never, ever do this again. Let's never, ever see a situation where 55 bills have been rammed through and where decent scrutiny has been completely abrogated. It has made a travesty of the parliamentary process. This is appalling. Every Australian should be concerned about this. If I am ever in a position where my vote would count on this—if I am re-elected in a few weeks time; if the people of South Australia entrust me with being in the Senate again—I tell both sides and my friends on the crossbenches that I will never be party to something like this ever again. What we have seen this week is completely and utterly disgusting.