Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Of course the government will have its way and we will wait another hour and then come back to the Telecommunications (Interception) Amendment Bill 2006. Just let me make a couple of points here, though. I am not as compliant with the government in these circumstances as the opposition is. We are sitting on a Tuesday night, the hours of which were arranged yesterday, to complete the third or fourth sitting day of this month in a Senate that now is sitting very little—fewer days than I can recollect during my time in the place. The reason for that is that the government does not want to be under scrutiny here but wants to ram through every piece of legislation it can. The opposition might be compliant about this, but the Greens are not.

The government is reducing the number of days on which the Senate sits yet does not want to reduce its ability to get through all the pieces of legislation. There are two mechanisms by which the government will achieve that. One is to have us sit longer hours on the days we are here than the time-honoured hours which are the maximum for the proper functioning of a Senate. We are not functioning at the moment, because the government has brought this legislation on on a Tuesday night when we should not be sitting. I extend my commiserations to those good people behind the scenes who are trying to get together a running sheet under extreme duress and pressure. This is March; it is not December. They never should be put under that pressure. But everybody bows to the Prime Minister’s wish that this Senate simply rubber-stamp everything that comes out of his office with a minimum of fuss.

The second mechanism that we have seen, and will see more and more use of, is the gag or the guillotine to cut off debate on important matters like this so that the government will not sit more days but will get that legislation through. The opposition might shrug its shoulders and say: ‘Oh, well. We can’t do much about that.’ The Greens do not accept that at all. What is happening here is a debasement of the parliament now that Prime Minister Howard and his coalition have control of both houses. This is a manifestation of the abuse of the Senate by the government, and I do not take that lightly and nor do my colleagues.

Yes, we will have a one-hour break and then come back and deal with some other legislation, because it is convenient for the government and Mr Howard. The honourable Prime Minister wants it all put through the Senate with no fuss, because the Senate does not matter. I take a different attitude. It is a hugely important institution. Whether the government has control of it or not, I differ from the opposition. It is our job to halt the government in its tracks and take the time that the public interest demands we take on extraordinary legislation like this and deal with it adequately. This should be done properly and in a coordinated fashion, not in a stop-start fashion such as is being exemplified by the mismanagement of the Senate here tonight.

Question agreed to.