Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement of no more than two minutes.

Leave granted.

To be clear, we have just seen yet again that this is a government that went to two elections saying would be the most transparent government in history. But—for those in the gallery—they have completely shut down debate on two bills that are incredibly important to the Australian people. The bills are in relation to your superannuation.

We had a number of issues we wanted to raise in relation to these bills on behalf of the people of Australia. But guess what? This government are not the most transparent government in history. In fact, it is the exact opposite. They have sided with their partners in crime, the Australian Greens, and they have yet again shut down debate in the Australian Senate. The last time I checked, colleagues, we were elected by the Australian people to come into this place and discharge our duties as, and I quote, a 'House of review'. What has just gone through, though—shame on the government, shame on the Greens—is a motion that will shut down important debate on this incredibly important topic.

There is actually another way forward, and it's a way forward that we could have supported on this side of the chamber. Instead of shutting debate down, why did you not just say, 'And the Senate sits until debate on these two important deals actually concludes'? It's because you didn't want to sit past 7.30 pm tonight. I can tell you, we would have happily sat until tomorrow morning if that's what it took to represent the Australian people properly. We take our roles as senators reviewing your legislation as an incredibly important one. We believe in transparency, and transparency means you come into this place and actually allow people to have a look at what you're proposing—to ask questions on it on behalf of the Australian people and then to cast a vote. But, yet again, you have just sided with the Australian Greens, and you have worked against the Australian people, and you have silenced debate on their behalf.