Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement in relation to this.

Leave granted.

I will only take a minute on this. What we have here again is this government using its numbers in the Senate to crunch through its estimates process. What we still do not have from the government is an indication of the spillover days and those matters. If you look at the program that is being put forward in two estimates hearings by legislative and general purpose, we have maintained both Fridays in the first additional estimates for a spillover day to ensure that the proper processes of the Senate can continue. When you look at the budget estimates, it runs again from the Monday to the Thursday. It appears that the government has maintained its position of ensuring that there will not be a spillover day during that period.

Of course, if you look at the numbers of four committees sitting for two weeks, eight days have been removed from the program. Again, that would have allowed for proper scrutiny in the Senate. Then in the second part of that we also have Wednesdays, for the November period, to Thursdays. Again what we find is that this government is not keen on scrutiny. It is not keen on ensuring that the estimates processes proceed as usual.

The government of course comes back with the tired line that they have increased the available estimates days, but the truth is that they have not. They have ensured that through this process this Senate would have reduced scrutiny available for the estimates in total. I will not take up too much of the Senate’s time on that; I simply wanted to make that point.

Question agreed to.