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

Madam Deputy Speaker, I seek the call to comment on the Leader of the House's statement. He says that the opposition should have common sense in relation to the tabling of this report. If the Leader of the House believed in common sense in relation to this House, he would have granted leave when the opposition asked to table electricity bills and documents on 12 September, three times; on 13 September, twice; on 17 September, three times; and on 18 September, twice. Each time, the Leader of the House thinks it is terribly funny—but of course it is quite puerile—to deny the opposition the right to table documents that they have referred to in their questions. On the other hand, we have not been given any notice that the Chairman of JSCEM wanted to give a speech today on his report. It is now the time when the opposition should be given the opportunity to debate matters of public importance. If the Leader of the House wants to table these documents, he should get his scheduling right. It is not up to the opposition to fix his problems.

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