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

I move:

That—

(1) On Monday, 24 June, Tuesday, 25 June, Wednesday, 26 June and Thursday, 27 June 2013, any proposal pursuant to standing order 75 shall not be proceeded with.

(2) On Wednesday, 26 June 2013, consideration of:

(a) matters of public interest; and

(b) government documents shall not be proceeded with, and instead the routine of business shall be government business only.

(3) Divisions may take place on:

(a) Wednesday, 26 June 2013, from 12.45 pm to 2 pm; and

(b) Thursday, 27 June 2013, after 4.30 pm.

(4) On Monday, 24 June 2013:

(a) the hours of meeting shall be 10 am to 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm to 11.40 pm; and

(b) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 11 pm.

(5) On Tuesday, 25 June 2013:

(a) the hours of meeting shall be 11 am to 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm to adjournment;

(b) the routine of business from not later than 7.30 pm shall be government business only; and

(c) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 10.30 pm.

(6) On Wednesday, 26 June 2013:

(a) consideration of the business before the Senate shall be interrupted at approximately 5 pm, but not so as to interrupt a senator speaking, to enable Senator Lines to make her first speech without any question before the chair; and

(b) immediately after Senator Lines’ first speech, valedictory statements may be made relating to Senators Joyce and Humphries.

(7) On Thursday, 27 June 2013:

(a) the hours of meeting shall be 9.30 am to 6 pm and 7 pm to 11.40 pm;

(b) the routine of business from not later than 3.30 pm to 4.20 pm and not later than 7 pm shall be government business only; and

(c) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 11 pm.

(8) The Senate meet on Friday, 28 June 2013, and that:

(a) the hours of meeting shall be 9.30 am to 3.40 pm;

(b) the routine of business shall be:

(i) notices of motion, and

(ii) government business only; and

(c) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 3 pm.

(9) The following government business orders of the day shall have precedence over all other government business, be called on in the following order and be considered under a limitation of time, and that the time allotted for all remaining stages be as follows:

(10) Paragraph (9) of this order shall operate as a limitation of debate under standing order 142.

This motion, lodged last Thursday, sets up debate to give the Senate additional time to consider a range of government bills before the end of the winter session. As senators know, the winter session is generally a reasonably short period. The government has a legislative program which is extremely important. This motion will allow senators time to place on record their views on government legislation but not to continue through repetitious second reading contributions, as has occurred to date.

I acknowledge that debating bills under time limits restricts debate and that this should only be done when necessary, and the bills listed in the motion today are indeed necessary. When one looks at the government's agenda, one sees that it is a broad agenda which has been on notice for quite some time. With a couple of exceptions, the bills listed have a 1 July 2013 start date. The bills contain a number of benefits from 1 July. For instance, increasing the superannuation concessional contribution cap to $35,000 and increasing the income-free threshold that applies to recipients of Commonwealth payments—just to name a few. We have also consulted senators and allowed for other bills to be listed, such as the Sugar Research and Development Services Bill. In many cases the bills implement changes that have had a long and detailed gestation period with policy development, extensive community engagements and even parliamentary scrutiny through the committee system and estimates over many years.

In the case of the aged-care package of bills the opposition agrees that reforms are required in this area. The package involves a comprehensive 10-year plan to reshape aged care and the package has been negotiated over the last 24 months. The Australian education package also fits this category. It has been clear for many years that a new basis for funding schools is required. After years of consultation and negotiation this package needs to be passed so that improved funding can be in place for 2014. Even the opposition must see the need for a new funding model for schools, even though it will not agree publicly with any outcome that addresses the disadvantage it has finally accepted exists in the current system and the system is due to expire at the end of this year and schools need that certainty.

The Constitutional Alteration Bill has an even tighter deadline, with this bill having to pass by this Wednesday. If the opposition is serious about supporting this bill its members should be facilitating its passage instead of continually adding to its speaking list. We are here to get the job done, not to allow for further time wasting, such as the division that occurred on that last motion. As anyone who has read the Notice Paper would see there is a lot of legislation before the chamber. If the progress of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Bill is any guide, where the opposition doubled its speakers—and it took almost a full week of government business time for the bill to be considered—you can understand why the government has moved today's motion. As I have said about time management motions in this place before, the Senate needs to address the amount of time devoted to government business in regular sitting weeks. The chamber needs to make room for more government business. Unless the government has around 50 per cent of the time of the chamber, time management motions will continue to be required if key bills in any government legislation program are to be dealt with.

Senators would be aware that it is not unusual for such a motion to tightly order business of the Senate in the last few sitting days of the parliamentary sitting. This motion is not unprecedented, especially at the end of a parliament. Let's not forget when the coalition was last in government how it treated the Senate. Remember when WorkChoices went through both houses of the parliament in one day. Let's also look at how it gagged debate on the sale of Telstra and on Medibank—just to name a few. The only workable option for the government is to move this motion to provide for more time to deal with government business. Governments of all persuasions are faced with the same options in managing their legislative program. When they can, governments use time management motions to structure debate, and, as I have said, particularly at the end of an important session.

The motion opens the opportunity for the Senate to be adaptable, as it was last week with respect to the non-controversial legislation. The Senate can be adaptable in its approach to debating legislation for this week. For these last few days this motion is the most effective way for the Senate to manage its time. The motion would set out clearly the chamber's expectations for debate on legislation. Opposition senators may not appreciate reasonable attempts to manage time, but senators on this side of the chamber are focused and determined on governing for the Australian people.

There is important legislation that needs to be passed: legislation that impacts on the daily lives of Australian people. The community would expect us to get on with that job, and that is exactly what we are doing. It is, after all, one of the core duties of the Senate to consider government legislation, and indeed deal with it rather than delay it. I ask senators to support this motion.