Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

and the government's reform agenda. As Senator Cormann knows, the winter session is generally a reasonably short period.

I recognise that the Senate has made very good progress in considering legislation in the days that we have sat for the winter sittings. In particular, I take the opportunity to thank all senators for a very productive day yesterday. The passage of 19 bills, or 12 packages of legislation, was outstanding. Many of these bills were noncontroversial, and that reduces debate time. If we could guarantee this level of productivity in terms of legislation considered by the Senate on more sitting days then time management motions would be redundant. Time management motions by a government in the last weeks of sitting are, as the opposition knows, not unusual. Governments of all persuasions are faced with the same options in managing their legislation program. Inevitably, they make the same decision.

When they can, governments use time management motions to structure debate. The only differences are in how generous these motions are and how much time they allow for the scrutiny of sometimes contentious matters arising from legislation. Without a doubt, the Senate plays a central role in the scrutiny of legislation, and this role should not be overly constrained. However, scrutiny is not always the same as open-ended consideration of legislation. The aim is to ensure sufficient consideration for thorough scrutiny by Senate committees and through debate in the chamber.

This motion aims to provide relatively lengthy periods for debate of bills of major significance, with less time provided for less contentious bills. It has also accounted for referrals to committees so that committee consideration can be given to bills to inform debate and policy implementation. This government will aim to avoid situations where major policy reforms are subject to very limited committee inquiries. Generous committee time has been provided for the most significant bills in this motion.

I do not apologise for the use of a time management motion when the alternative is extended weeks and hours of sitting to grind through sometimes repetitious debates. It is true that without a time management motion senators' contributions to debates on legislation and other matters are not constrained. Perhaps this is ideal. I say 'perhaps' because sometimes there is a very important role for focused debate for concentrating on the chamber's role as a house to consider legislation in a measured and productive way. Sometimes this is only achieved through the majority of this chamber supporting the use of time management. I recommend the motion to the chamber.