Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Chief Government Whip for his question. Indeed, there is a need for order and unity in both chambers of the parliament if the parliamentary processes are going to function properly. As I highlighted earlier today, there have been 191 bills, 191 pieces of legislation, passed through this chamber this year alone—the highest number of bills in a decade, because this government has a big agenda. This would not have been possible without orderly conduct from united government members. This week has highlighted what happens in the parliament when you do not have unity. Now, on Thursday afternoon, we are not quite sure when the legislation will pass the other chamber that has been agreed to by the government and the opposition. We are not sure when it will pass—if it passes. We are not sure by how many votes it will pass or who will be the Leader of the Opposition at that time.

Yesterday morning the members for O’Connor and Tangney moved a motion to spill the Liberal Party leadership. It is true that there have been spills over the years on this side of the House as well, but never before has there been a case where the choice was between the Leader of the Opposition and nobody, and nobody got 35 votes.

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