Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Okay. This is a motion to reorder the business of the next couple of hours to allow divisions to occur in the next couple of hours. Usually at this time on a Tuesday there are no divisions occurring. Why is it that, in a sitting that many people didn't expect to have and with a couple of days of sitting left, the government says, 'We want to change the way things are done usually to allow for more divisions to happen and more votes to happen to allow legislation to be fast-tracked through this place'? That's what the divisions are for. Why is the government wanting to do that? It's not to wipe student debt. It's not to ensure that people can go and see the GP for free and that we Dutton-proof that legislation. No. It's to bring legislation to this place and ensure that the normal order of doing things is reorganised so that they can fast-track the extinction of a species in Tasmania and introduce legislation that will gut our climate and environment laws. That is why they are moving this motion to allow for, over the next couple of hours, votes to take place on legislation that was seen a couple of days ago that hasn't been through the usual Senate inquiry process and that will not address the cost-of-living crisis that people are under when we are called back here for a budget. They will instead act, simply because the big corporations and the Leader of the Opposition have said, 'Jump,' and the Prime Minister has said, 'How high?'

The legislation which the suspension motion from the Leader of the House is designed to fast-track over the next couple of hours by rearranging the way things are usually done will not address the cost-of-living crisis that people find themselves under. That is not the government's priority in moving this motion. They have shown absolute unwillingness to legislate even their own measures, which they say are so important. They want to hold wiping student debt by 20 per cent ransom to the outcome of the election. They won't bring a motion to this parliament to say, 'Let's pass that now.' Let's legislate seeing the GP for free and tripling the bulk-billing incentive—an idea of the Greens that they've adopted. No. We won't bring a motion to parliament to re-order business and to allow debate and divisions to happen to ensure that that progresses today.

No. What this motion is about is ensuring that, over the next couple of hours, the government fast-tracks legislation that will make a species extinct, and—not just that!—the government says, 'Please pass this motion so that we can debate this legislation.' You know what, Mr Speaker? There's a reason that they're not prepared to put this to a Senate inquiry and, instead, want to go through this dodgy process here now to allow divisions to happen at a time when usually there would not be divisions. The reason that that is being proposed is to hide scrutiny of just how wide ranging this bill is.

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