Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

I certainly welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important matter in this matters of public importance debate. I note that the purpose of this parliament is to hold the government to account. The purpose of this parliament is to govern well for the benefit of the people of Australia. It is interesting to note that the Leader of the House talked about the importance of Friday sittings, a day on which the Prime Minister was not going to bother to turn up, a day for which the taxpayers were paying to keep this parliament functioning yet at the same time we were not going to have a question time. We were not going to have a questioning of the executive. We were going to have nothing more than a Clayton’s parliament. It is absolutely outrageous that the Leader of the House would suggest that the taxpayers of this country pay to keep this parliament open when there was no ability to hold this government to account.

The government tries to achieve a very similar situation in question time by, effectively, constantly filibustering. Rather than providing decisive answers to questions and rather than being concise, we have the Prime Minister filibustering for virtually hours in question time. In fact, I think he could be renamed ‘Stilnox’ for his incredible power to send not only the members of this House but perhaps half of the nation to sleep with his dreary, dull and irrelevant performances in question time. The subject of relevance is very important and the deficiency of the standing orders in relation to question time is made clear by the performance of the Prime Minister and his senior ministers in this place. It certainly does detract from the ability of the parliament to hold the government to account and to seek important answers to questions on important issues that the public of Australia—and this parliament—has a right to know.

On the issue of asylum seekers, we have seen the government ducking and weaving and avoiding answering the proper and appropriate questions that have been put forward by this opposition. The government is intent on maintaining a situation whereby it can continue to do that. It is absolutely important that parliament evolve over time. It is absolutely important that the parliament have the ability to probe the goings-on within the executive, however murky they might be. But it seems clear that this government is going to stand and defend its right to filibuster, that it is going to stand and defend its right to be perpetually irrelevant and that it is going to stand and defend its right to avoid the very proper scrutiny that should be occurring in this House. The Prime Minister can run but he cannot hide from the Australian people for much longer because I think they are growing wise to the fact that his performance—and the performance of his ministers—in question time is nothing more than a filibuster and wasting the time of this parliament and wasting the time of the Australian people. They should be answering correctly and properly the questions that are being put forward by this opposition. They should be hearing the voice of the Australian people, who are calling for accountability by this government and for answers on important questions about subjects such as asylum seekers. They are wanting to know how wisely their taxpayer dollars are being spent. They are wanting to know what is going on in relation to the control of our borders and the ways in which this government should be discharging its obligation to defend our coastline, an obligation on which those opposite are sadly letting the Australian people down.

Debate interrupted.

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