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

Let's not go down the road of setting up this chamber as a replacement for judicial processes. We should also not support this suspension of standing orders because, on the day of the budget, we should be debating the economy. The member for Fraser's MPI—

Mr Abbott interjecting—

The Leader of the Opposition said, 'Let question time go on.' This is the bloke who authorised not one but two suspensions of question time on the same day. It is a new record for the Leader of the Opposition. The MPI is for:

The urgent need to return the budget to surplus, to invest in boosting productivity, and to provide open and transparent costings to the Australian people.

There you have a fundamental issue which should be debated before this parliament on the day in which the budget comes down. Yet those opposite say: 'No, we shouldn't do that. We should debate us becoming judge and jury and replacing proper processes, like a star chamber.' These are circumstances where there is not a shred of credibility because there is not a shred of consistency.

We have the member for Bowman and the member for Bonner, and we have Senator Fisher. We have statements from the Leader of the Opposition, and we do not have to go back very far for them. On 22 April 2012 the Leader of the Opposition said:

Well, as I said, she was a backbench Member of Parliament. My recollection is that she did not take part in the committees of the Parliament, she didn’t attend the Parliament while these matters were being dealt with and I’m saying that the Speaker should stand aside from the chair while these matters are being dealt with.

That quote shows two things. One is that he did not check any of his facts, because the facts do not matter—like in the ridiculous economic question he tried to ask earlier. The facts do not matter and there is no research done. Ninety-five times Senator Fisher voted while her charges were being dealt with, including on the clean energy legislation on 8 November 2011. It shows hypocrisy, again, with the previous motion because he said on that day:

… the Speaker should stand aside from the chair while these matters are being dealt with.

Well, the Speaker did that, and they still came in here and moved the motion, showing what cheapjack opportunism this is.

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