Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) | Hansard source

Here we have this government making yet another attempt, in terms of a chaotic approach, to try to ram through legislation, having been sent a pretty clear message by the crossbench this morning. Who knows what deals have been done and who knows what undertakings have been given to get the government to a position where they're now still going to ram through a record number of bills, adding to their record tally—and a remarkable tally it is too. A government that has already guillotined more bills in three years than the previous government did in nine years is just adding to that tally.

But the big question is: where is the online safety bill? Why has that not featured in the government's guillotine list? Where are the migration bills? Why have they not featured in the government's guillotine list? Is this because the Greens' tail is wagging the government dog? Is that entirely what's happening here? Are the Greens dictating the terms of what the government can or cannot legislate? It's a shocking sign of things to come if voters get it wrong at the next election and a shocking sign of what could occur if the Greens are left to drive the government's agenda in the future.

The opposition, as I said this morning, is clear about a willingness to constructively pass what would still be a significant amount of legislation today, even though we have limited time to debate it. Instead, the government has doubled down on this reckless approach—this contemptuous approach—towards the Senate and is piling through all these other bills.

I ask the government to give that clarity to the chamber. Where is the online safety bill? Where are the migration bills? What are your plans? You've sliced and diced what you tried to put through this morning to go and get something with the Greens, but we want to see important things done—things the Prime Minister said were important; things the Prime Minister said should happen this week. Where are they? Why is the government walking away from, allegedly, its own priorities to these bills, which, in many cases, are things that are a long way short of actual government priorities?

President, this is for Senator Chisholm or Senator Farrell, in the absence of Senator Wong, to make clear: what's the go? If the chamber signs up to this, what else is the chamber going to be asked to sign up to? The crossbenchers who have been lobbied and cajoled and dealt whatever it is to get their vote in relation to this ought to know what's going to come next, having said they're going to stand against a guillotine of such proportion this morning and having said they stand against a guillotine of some of the things the coalition thinks should happen. Is the government going to be honest with those crossbenchers, or are they just going to see this motion pass, and then, lo and behold, there will be another alternate approach that gives the government all that it wants? Where's the honesty? Where's the decency? Where's the proper process? Where's the transparency? We don't know what deals have been struck. We don't know what's about to come next from the government, and, of course, it's a government continuing to break all of the promises that it made to the Australian people.

The imputation lies on the government. Make it clear for the crossbench. Be upfront and honest to them about what's coming next. Is this it, and the online safety bill is dead and gone for this year, or do you actually have plans to get the other things done? If so, what are those plans? Let us all know.