Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, to the point of order, if I can make a further submission in light of what the Leader of the House has just said. The Leader of the House has just referred to ordinary routine. There is nothing routine about what the House is dealing with right now. Nobody had any way of predicting that the commissioner would engage himself in Liberal Party fundraising, and the House has to have the right to be able to debate that issue. This is completely without precedent and the House must be allowed to suspend the relevant standing order to have that debate. As we are told a free and open flowing debate is what is meant to happen, it should be happening right now. This is the one way for it to occur. We moved the suspension of that very standing order and the House must be allowed to have this debate. It must not be used by the Leader of the House to cover up the head of a royal commission engaging in Liberal Party fundraising.

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