Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition have been running around talking to anyone who will listen to them today saying that the Senate has run out of business, that the government has mismanaged its legislative program. Nothing could be further from the truth. As you know, Mr Acting Deputy President, once there has been a double dissolution election the books are cleared of the parliament, in terms of legislation. Legislation needs to be reintroduced into parliament, which happened in the last sitting week in the House of Representatives. Notice is given, legislation is introduced and, in the ordinary course of events, you would expect to have legislation from the House of Representatives by this time. But the reason that we do not is that the Australian Labor Party have been playing petty undergraduate games in the House of Representatives today.

There is legislation in this place which is absolutely uncontroversial and which you would expect a responsible opposition would facilitate the passage of. That has not been the case in the House of Representatives today. There are two pieces of legislation which the House of Representatives were planning to send to the Australian Senate today to be dealt with: the Registration of Deaths Abroad Amendment Bill 2016 and the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Amendment Bill 2016.

I want to focus on one bill at the outset, and that is the Registration of Deaths Abroad Amendment Bill 2016. I put to you that there could not be a less controversial bill come to this parliament in this term than the Registration of Deaths Abroad Amendment Bill, yet the Australian Labor Party over in the other place today sought to deny the chamber the opportunity to have that bill read a third time. I see you raise an eyebrow, I think, Mr Acting Deputy President Ketter. Perhaps you are—