Senator FAULKNER (Leader of the Opposition in the Senate)(7.23 p.m.) —I think the President needs to understand that it is the commissioner who is running the redeployment program in the APS. What I am proposing here takes into account the concerns that the President and the minister have. Nevertheless, I have a very serious concern here about the interests of the employees. I think that ought to be a primary concern for this committee too.

I think that, in terms of logical internal consistency, we can improve again 26A(1) by removing the words `without anyone's consent'. So if this clause read, `The Commissioner may, with the agreement of the relevant Presiding Officer, move an excess Parliamentary Service employee to another Parliamentary Department or to an APS agency.' I find it impossible to believe that that could not be acceptable to all concerned. The amendment in that form is what I would like to press. It is in the same form as I outlined to the committee before, but I acknowledge that the words `without anyone's consent' would need to be deleted.