Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

Do not give me that rubbish. Minister, you could not even get amendments finalised until last night. The only person who will wear the outcome of this is you. You are the one who put in place a convoluted political process. You are the one who was not prepared to consult. You are the one who closed down the committee that would have given you the answers to make this legislation better.

I am advised by the shadow minister that he will facilitate this process tonight and that he will do so despite your actions—despite your inability to communicate with him. It is quite remarkable, is it not, when you had something that is so desperately urgent, that you did not have the good grace to pick up the phone last night and say to him: ‘These are the amendments that we intend moving. Will you help me facilitate this process?’ Did you have the gumption to pick up the phone and say that? No, you did not. So do not come in here weeping crocodile tears about who is responsible for this legislation.

We have done everything possible to assist you in this process. It is your problem if this legislation does not get through by tomorrow. It is your problem when you—not this chamber, not the coalition, not the Australian Democrats, not the Greens and not Family First—have imposed a deadline. You put this date in yourself and you are the one who is madly running around trying to accommodate that. So do not come in here and accuse us of trying to stop this process. We will do it to get you out of a situation of your own making.

You know and I know that if this does not come back until June—when it should come back, after it has had appropriate consideration—it will leave you insufficient time to get contracts finalised. So we will facilitate your process. But you introduced this into this chamber on 20 March. You were the one who refused to take note of the committee. You were the one who tried to close down the process. You were the one who was ‘so concerned’ about this that you did not bring this matter on for debate until today. We sat yesterday and you had every opportunity to bring this matter on for debate then. You had the opportunity to bring this urgent bill on before another bill that was dealt with this morning. So do not come in here and accuse the non-government parties of in any way interfering with this legislative program of yours. We will accommodate it because the people who are involved in this process deserve it, not because the Australian Labor Party or you as minister in any way deserve the accommodation that you are being given.

What I am going to do in the next 20 minutes is move the coalition’s amendments without intimate discussion, because we will facilitate the process. We will take at face value the advice given to us by the clerks that this cannot be done tomorrow. We have important amendments to move, some of which are supported, I understand, by the Australian Democrats. You have not yet asked them whether they are prepared to facilitate this farcical process that you have put in place. The Leader of the Australian Democrats may not be as accommodating as I am; I do not know the answer to that. But we will not debate these amendments because you need to have this legislation through by 6.50 tonight. You are so disorganised, Minister, that half an hour ago you were talking about providing some time tomorrow morning to get this dealt with. You do not even understand the processes of this place. You did not take advice. You came to us 15 minutes ago on your hands and knees saying: ‘We need to get this through tonight; otherwise, it will not go through’—and then you have the gall to stand here and accuse us of not assisting the process! You have performed some incredible stunts in your day but this is absolutely right up there with them. The only good thing about this debate is that we do not have the computer!

I will expect your personal apology after this, because you know as well as I do that I am owed it. I am, however, going to facilitate this by moving these amendments through. We will have this out of here by 6.50 tonight—depending, of course, on the view of the Leader of the Democrats, Senator Allison, and whether she is prepared to accommodate that. I do not know the answer to that. But we will not be accused of holding up a process that you have bungled from day one. This is all of your making. I think that you can probably send the shadow minister, Mr Bruce Billson, a very big thankyou note, because if it were not for him accommodating your bungles you would not be in a position to let these contracts out to tender when you want to do so.