I move:

That the following matter be referred to the Standing Committee of Privileges for inquiry and report:

(a) whether, in declining to appear before the Finance and Public Administration References Committee for the purposes of its inquiry into Commonwealth legislative provisions relating to oversight of associated political entities, Senator Sinodinos disobeyed a lawful order of the Senate without reasonable excuse; and

(b) if so, whether any contempt was committed in that regard.

Mr President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave is granted for one minute.

The government opposes this motion. The decision to call Senator Sinodinos before the inquiry was both unprecedented and objectionable. It has never been the practice of the Senate to direct ministers to attend before hearings of references committees. Given that the inquiry was of the complex issues of political donations by associated entities, it was a manifest absurdity that only a single day's hearing was allocated with a reporting date only two business days after that. It is obvious that any serious attempt to conduct an inquiry into such an important topic could not be concluded, nor a proper report prepared, in such a ludicrously short period. The circumstances in which the inquiry was called, its timing, the unprecedented calling of a single government minister and the refusal to call any Labor or union officials demonstrate beyond argument that this was just a blatant political stunt.

The question is that the motion moved by Senator McAllister be agreed to.