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

The motion I am seeking to move to suspend standing orders—a motion the government doesn't even want to debate; pretty interesting, isn't it?—would enable this Senate to properly consider the message from the House of Representatives. That's all. From the roaring and the interjections that we saw just previously—and with Senator Macdonald and Senator Cash getting all hot under the collar again—you would think that we were talking about something outrageous. This is parliamentary democracy. There are two chambers. We pass legislation; they pass legislation. We get to consider the amendments that they've made or whether or not they've accepted ours. It's the parliamentary system. What this Leader of the Government in the Senate did yesterday was prevent debate on the message because he wants the political timetable, and that's what so objectionable about all of this. The motion moved was not because there was some time sensitivity or the government had to get it up today or there couldn't be further Senate debate because there had been hours of it, because there hadn't. We'd given up Tuesday night. There'd been, I think, 45 minutes of committee time or maybe a little bit more. It wasn't because we'd been filibustering or there'd been lengthy debate. Senator Mathias Cormann did over the Senate because he wants a political timetable, and that is objectionable. That is not the way this place should be run.

This is an important piece of legislation. We should be able to debate and amend what the House sends back. We accept, of course, that the government has the majority in the House; that's why they're on that side. But they do not have the right to prevent this Senate from debating and amending the message or the legislation which comes back from the House, yet that is what this Senate did yesterday. I'd implore Senator Hinch and others on the crossbench who may be against us on the tax cuts—I think you're wrong in policy on that and wrong in merit, but I accept that's your decision—why do over the Senate to enable Senator Cormann to deliver on Malcolm Turnbull's political timetable? There is no reason why this Senate should not have the opportunity to properly debate and amend the message when it comes back. No reason was put yesterday and no reason has been given. The only reason is the political strategy that Senator Cormann is desperate to deliver on for a desperate Prime Minister ahead of the by-elections.