George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. I direct your attention to the terms of the question before the chair, which is: 'That the Senate notes the challenges for good government posed by the culture of the Australian Labor Party and its special relationship with affiliated trade unions'. I accept entirely that a degree of latitude is involved in applying the relevance test to this debate. I accept entirely that it is perfectly in order for a senator to make comparisons between his side of politics and his political opponents—but only in the context of the question before the chair. I respectfully submit that because this is a debate about the Labor Party and the trade unions, not about the Liberal Party, Senator Cameron has trespassed beyond what could be regarded as relevant.