Kudos to Mr Xenophon for actually getting to the heart of this, realising the potential outcomes, and not just rubber stamping a law change under advice.
What concerns me is where was the seed of the idea planted? To my reading, it may have been CASA who proposed the rule change. But CASA are meant to be there to enhance and uphold air safety, not dilute it. There is a common conception in EASA-land that it is the airlines and MRO's pushing for the downgrading of the licenced engineer and licencing system, and not NAA's. Whoever or wherever this idea came from needs a serious review of their position or intention. Maybe the next suggestion could be any pilot could fly any aircraft with minimal training (to use a sarcastic analogy).