Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak against the suspension of standing orders. This is a stunt from an opposition that is bereft of ideas and determined to distract attention from their own internal problems. We have seen it writ large today with Peter Costello’s op-ed in the SMH and the Age, taking apart the former Prime Minister, John Howard, on his honesty. But the one thing that Peter Costello and John Howard agree on is that this mob over here are not up to it. This mob over here are not up to the legacy that they left.

This motion today is about taking up the parliament’s time with a distraction. This parliament, all of us—Labor, coalition and Independent members—sat down and signed up to a parliamentary reform process that gives record time for private members to raise issues of concern to them in this parliament. The Standing Committee on Selection met last night to determine what would be debated in private members’ business. But those opposite did not have this on the agenda and did not want this on the agenda. They have had a range of issues flip-flopping around. They have had private members’ business motions and a private member’s bill moved by the member for Wentworth. But that has been superseded because, since they moved the private member’s bill on broadband last week, they have changed their policy again. So by the time we get to vote on it the policy will be redundant.

This is an inconsistent mob with simply nothing to say about issues of substance. They talk about the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship—he sat here day after day desperate for a question and could not get one from those opposite. They come in here and pretend that this is an issue of urgency. They pretend that they are for consultation. Let us have a look at the previous mainland sites that were opened when they were in office. Curtin opened in September 1999. Woomera opened in November 1999. The Woomera residential housing project was opened in August 2001. Baxter opened in September 2002. The Port Augusta residential housing project was opened in November 2003. For all of these projects did they come in here and say, ‘Let’s have a process of public consultation and public meetings’? No, not at all. Hypocrisy, thy name is the Liberal Party when it comes to these issues.

The fact is that, in moving this suspension, those opposite are once again walking away from an understanding of the running of a good parliament. On the running of the parliament, we have established a system in which I think most people who are objective commentators recognise that there has been substantial improvement. We have moved away from the sort of thing where you come in here and say, ‘Oh, it’s Wednesday; we’ll move a suspension at 9 am.’ For newer members, this is what they used to do towards the end of the last term. They would come in here on Wednesdays at nine o’clock and say, ‘What will we do to take up some of the parliament’s time?’ Previously, perhaps an argument could be put for it. Now it cannot, because now there is every opportunity to raise issues. Indeed, on Monday this week from 10 am right through to 10 pm in this House and in the Main Committee, with the exception of question time, essentially a majority of that time was taken up with private members’ business. This mob over here say that people should be leaving the parliament, not fulfilling their duties in the parliament, to go to meetings outside of the parliament, and yet they will not grant anyone a pair. We had the Business Council of Australia dinner last night with no-one there for the first time. Normally you would have representatives of the government and the opposition there, but those opposite have this attitude.

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