Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed. I am reminded that, far from there being an attempt to actually engage in this place, to put forward some ideas and to deal with the new policies and the agenda for work that the Rudd government has, all we have had from members opposite is self-indulgence and concentration on what can only be described as arcane aspects of parliamentary procedure that, I would suspect, are of no interest to the Australian people. The Australian people want to see this parliament working on the future of this country, putting forward ideas for the future of this country and carrying forward the agenda for work that the Rudd government was elected to fulfil.

Bizarrely, yesterday the member for North Sydney said, in extraordinary terms, that the changes to standing orders ‘cut to the heart of the Westminster system’. The changes to the standing orders say nothing about the Westminster system. They do not change the accountability of ministers in this place and they do not change the way in which this parliament can work. The suggestion that has been faintly and incoherently raised today by the member for Ryan—that the standing orders in some way have lessened ministerial accountability in this place—is simply wrong.

I had expected, on reading the motion, that we might hear something about Pakistan because Pakistan is mentioned in this motion. The motion reads as follows:

That the House:

(1)

acknowledges its support for the advancement of democracy around the world, including Pakistan ...

We have not heard a word about ‘the advancement of democracy around the world, including Pakistan’.

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