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

On indulgence, this development in the House this morning is quite unprecedented and I think it requires urgent clarification. I agree with the member for Lyne in that regard. My understanding is that the report from the Selection Committee which recommended that the bill be referred to a House committee for debate and investigation was handed to the chair before the second reading of the bill began. Why is that significant? It is significant because, once the second reading of a bill begins, the bill can go through all stages of the legislative process regardless of the report from the committee. So the government either deliberately or unwittingly ensured that the Selection Committee report was not tabled in the House.

I understand the member for Lyne was in the chair at the time and I am sure he was unaware of the machinations. Because that report was not tabled in a reasonable time, the bill was called on for its second reading. As a consequence—and I am sure the Chief Government Whip knows this—the Selection Committee's referral to the House committee is now a dead duck. It does not matter what that committee finds; the bill can now go through all the stages of the legislative process. This is an example of the chaos currently gripping the government's management of the parliament. We are getting bills the night before we are expected to pass them in the House of Representatives. It is a matter I am deeply concerned about.

With respect to this matter, I am very concerned that the parliament has been diddled, has been tricked, and that the proper processes of the parliament for bringing on the second reading of a bill opposed by the opposition have not been followed. This is not just any uncontroversial bill. Sometimes the Leader of the House and I agree for debates to occur, either in this place or in the Federation Chamber, on uncontroversial legislation. We did so yesterday, for example, with the debates that took place between 11 am and 2 pm. This is not uncontroversial legislation. The opposition is opposing this bill. As a consequence, there needs to be an immediate investigation into the events of this morning and the Speaker needs to consider whether what has been done this morning should be undone by the parliament so that a proper referral to the relevant House committee can occur—as the Selection Committee decided. That report can then be given—

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