Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

The government will not be supporting the motion to suspend standing orders. It is incredibly important that matters of Australia's national security are dealt with very carefully. The government does not believe that it is appropriate to canvass those matters in the manner which Senator Milne is proposing at this point in time in the proceedings of the Senate. Obviously Senator Brandis, who as Attorney-General has portfolio responsibility for these matters, will look carefully at the contributions of colleagues in this procedural debate. But I just want to reiterate that this chamber does need to be mindful of the longstanding conventions and protocols in relation to the commentary on national security matters.

I know that they were protocols and conventions that the previous government took seriously. They are protocols and conventions that this government takes seriously. National security matters have historically been placed beyond partisanship and so, as I have indicated, the government will not be supporting this motion to suspend standing orders. But as I said, the Attorney-General does pay close attention to the contributions of colleagues in this place.