In order to remove any possible misapprehension that may arise with regard to my attitude regarding the question of age, on behalf of those who took the same line on the divisions as I took, I wish to say that if this Bill had come in the ordinary way to the House, if it had not been brought here under the circumstances in which it was, I certainly would have voted for every amendment on the Order Paper to-day proposing to raise the age. But, in view of the circumstances, and in view of what I said on the first amendment to-day, that this was an agreed Bill brought about under very special circumstances, by unanimous consent in the other House, I thought the wisest course for the House to take was not to amend the Bill in any particular. Otherwise, I would have supported the amendment on the question of raising the age.
Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 1934—Final Stage.
With reference to what Senator Farren has said, I would like rather to reverse the procedure and say that if a proposal had been made that, having regard to all the circumstances, this Bill should be accepted by this House, it is quite likely that very reluctantly I, for my part, would have said: "Very well; let it go." But when a Committee proposed by Senator Farren himself—the names were actually suggested by him—was set up to see whether improvements could be made, then we felt we should stand by its recommendations. We have done so, not because we wanted to change the Bill, not because we were not willing to compromise, but because we felt that, in the circumstances, we had been asked by this House to consider it and form a genuine opinion on it. I think every member who read the Carrigan Report—I read a good deal more—did try to form a genuine opinion on the Bill. When we did appoint a Committee, a Committee that, as I have said, was proposed by Senator Farren, and we felt it necessary to stand by some of the amendments, perhaps unsuccessfully, then our position should not be regarded as in any way different, as far as our desire to get the Bill passed, from that of Senator Farren, who voted for it.