Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Very briefly, I am glad that the Leader of the House has agreed to extend the consideration in detail for a couple of hours tonight, but I make two points. The first is that there are still speakers on the speakers list for the second reading stage from both the opposition and the government who will not get the opportunity to make their speeches because the government is gagging the carbon tax package of bills, which is a shame and a disgrace. The second is that the consideration in detail stage would have been the perfect opportunity for the government to have these bills, these 19 bills, scrutinised by the parliament to ensure that the i's have been dotted and the t's have been crossed. In spite of the fact that the opposition oppose this package of legislation, consideration in detail is very important, yet the Leader of the House' s proposition was that there be only three hours of consideration in detail on 19 different bills. Certainly, we are extending that tonight through this motion; but, quite frankly, if the Leader of the House wanted to get this legislation right rather than just get it through by gagging debate, there would not be a vote happening at five o'clock tonight on the second reading, and the consideration in detail would be left open-ended in order to give the parliament the time frame to properly consider the government's legislation.

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