In my view, the government has several responsibilities, the first of which is to enact good laws that abide by the human rights conventions to which we are signatory. I think this is absolutely crucial.
I suspect that this law was formulated without full consideration to those human rights commitments. I don't think it was enacted in bad faith, but I think full consideration to obligations to which we were already a state party was not given. This is why CFUW and NAWL had a problem with it being bundled into the budget. It effectively takes away a right that has been enshrined in the Constitution.
That is where I see the government's responsibility, to make sure that the laws are good and do not infringe on or take away any current human rights, and indeed to advance human rights wherever possible.