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

Well, those opposite have woken up. I wasn't going to point the finger, but I would say a lot of time was spent last week not debating legislation. People send us here to debate legislation. I accept that there's a whole range of other forms and customs and practice of this place.

Opposition senators interjecting—

It would be great if we didn't need to put in place time management motions if the Senate actually got through legislation in a way that was manageable, but it doesn't seem to be able to do that. That's the problem that time management has to deal with. Because, ultimately, if you waste an entire week not passing a single piece of legislation—and it wasn't government senators who were chewing up the time; let's be clear about that—then pressure will build, and you will have to put time management motions in place.

On the suspension that Senator Allman-Payne seeks to move today, notwithstanding the very real issues facing aged care in this country, the reform work that's underway and the investment that we're making, the demand for aged care continues to grow. It is an important issue that this chamber should debate. But there have been debates specifically on this issue in this chamber in recent weeks, and this week we have important reforms that the Australian people would like us to act on. The gambling and NDIS reforms are two of them, and I think our media friends are very keen on settling the news media bargaining incentive. (Time expired)