Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in respect of proceedings specifically on the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2014, so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the following from occurring:

(1) resumption of debate on the second reading of the bill being called on and the first Opposition Member immediately called to speak;

(2) at the conclusion of the speech of the first Opposition Member on the second reading of the bill, the Prime Minister being called immediately to conclude the second reading debate and the question then being put immediately on the second reading of the bill, a Governor-General's message being reported and the question being put immediately on the third reading of the bill; and

(3) any variation to this arrangement to be made only by a motion moved by a Minister.

The debate management motion that I am moving this morning will ensure that the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill can be dealt with expeditiously by the House and be transmitted to the Senate. We hope it will be passed in the Senate.

This will be the fourth time that the House of Representatives will have considered exactly the same bill. So, to anticipate the Manager of Opposition Business's outrage about a debate management motion on this bill, the reality is that this is exactly the same bill that has been passed by the House of Representatives three times. I hesitate to pre-empt the House of Representatives but I suspect that it will be voted on and passed a fourth time today and transmitted to the Senate.

The bill was first introduced into the House of Representatives and the second reading was moved on 14 November 2013. It was referred to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee on the same date, with a public hearing in Melbourne on 26 November 2013. That report was delivered on 2 December. A second reading debate occurred here in the House on the 3, 11, and 12 December. It was referred to the Senate Education and Employment References Committee on 9 December with a public hearing in Sydney. It was passed by the House of Representatives on the second and third reading on 12 December 2013. It was then introduced into the Senate and the second reading was moved on 12 December. The Senate Education and Employment References Committee report was delivered. The second reading debate occurred on 13 and 14 May 2014 and, unfortunately, the bill was negatived by the Senate on 14 May 2014.

Then the exact same bill was introduced into the House of Representatives and the second reading was moved on 19 June 2014. The second reading debate occurred on 25 June and 14 and 15 July. The bill was amended by the government on 15 July and passed by the House of Representatives through all stages on 15 July 2014. It was introduced into the Senate and the second reading was moved on 17 July 2014. The second reading debate occurred in that place on 11 and 12 February and 2 March 2015—so many, many months later. The second reading was negatived by the Senate on 2 March 2015.

We tried a third time in the last parliament, the 44th Parliament. We introduced the same bill and the second reading was moved on 19 March 2015. It was referred to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee on 14 May 2015, and the second reading debate occurred on 25 June 2015. It was passed by the House of Representatives on 25 June 2015. It was then introduced into the Senate on 25 June 2015. The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee reported on 11 August. The second reading was moved and the second reading debate occurred on 17 August 2015, and it was negatived by the Senate on 17 August 2015. This is one of my more compelling speeches! Finally, the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2014 was introduced into the House of Representatives and the second reading was moved on 31 August 2016 in this parliament and was immediately again referred to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee on 1 September.

My point, after that voluminous and long list of scrutiny of this bill, is that this matter has been dealt with again, and again and again. It has been looked at from every possible angle—from upside down and inside out. This bill has been referred to Senate committees. It has been looked at scrutinised by the House of Representatives. It has been dealt with on three occasions—even more than the Australian Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Bill 2013. We know exactly what the Labor Party's position is and, given the automatons that populate the House of Representatives for the Labor Party, especially among the 22 new members, none of whom would dare to have a different view to their factional bosses—

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