Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) | Hansard source

I don't agree with the motion moved by Senator Lambie. We are not fast-tracking legislation. This legislation has been in this chamber, and it has been blocked in this chamber, for months and months. There have been Senate inquiry reports on most of them. There have been lots of negotiations with people. I don't accept that we are trying to circumvent scrutiny or accountability. These bills have been dealt with in this chamber for months, if not years. We have argued the case. We have argued the case. We just want to deal with them—yes or no. That is the position that we are bringing. These are important bills. They're important bills from an economic point of view and from a social point of view. They're important bills for the Australian community.

At the end of the year it is not abnormal for the Senate to have to deal with a large number of bills. That is not unusual. I have been in this place for a number of years where that has been the case. So we are putting them forward. We're putting them forward in a way that people can speak about them. They can vote separately on them. But we wanted to indicate to the chamber that these are our priorities, and we want to work with the chamber to get it done.