Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

There you go. I guess he is not going to do that. Let us be clear about it. National security legislation is not urgent but beating up on the CFMEU is, because it is a political imperative. I mean, really.

What I would say is that we, I think, have been very reasonable in terms of giving up time, and we would have been willing to give up more time tomorrow, including private senators business in the morning. But what we have instead is the government seeking to use its numbers on the crossbench to require additional hours sitting without notice. I would say to the crossbench: you are entitled to support the government on this legislation. We disagree with your view. There is a better way to manage this chamber in a somewhat more cooperative and courteous fashion, to give people notice of additional hours rather than turning up at 9.30 each day, suspending standing orders and crunching through additional hours of sitting. I put that to the crossbench. For that reason—not because we are going to delay this bill—as I have indicated quite clearly, we are—

Senator Brandis interjecting—

Would you like to get up and speak, George? As I have indicated quite clearly, we are not intending to delay this. This motion was unnecessary. Really, I would ask the crossbench to perhaps consider continuing to go along with the government on this. (Time expired)