Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

The Labor Party is delighted to support the suspension of standing orders so this parliament can do its job. The assistant minister just asserted, in one of his more bizarre performances—and that's a low bar—that it is anti-democratic for a member of parliament to introduce a piece of legislation to be debated in the parliament and voted upon.

I don't agree with every single thing in the honourable member for Warringah's bill. That's fine. That's what the parliament is for. If it came on for a vote, we'd have the chance to move amendments, to discuss the situation and to actually pass a law with the support of the parliament. But I make this prediction: the suspension of standing orders today will unfortunately fail because the government will use its numbers to crush debate in the House of Representatives. The government will use its numbers to stop this parliament doing its job, and the government will abide by a recommendation from that well-known modern liberal, the member for North Sydney, not to bring this bill on for a vote. The member for Wentworth will vote against bringing this on for a vote. The member for Higgins will vote against bringing this on for a vote. The member for Goldstein has already spoken against bringing this on for a vote. The member for Kooyong will vote against bringing this on for a vote. These modern Liberals, who are lions in their electorates and mice in Canberra, will stifle this vote.

I predict this bill will not come on for a vote. I predict this bill will not have the chance to be debated in this parliament. The member for Goldstein had arguments against it—pretty weak ones—but he could have made those arguments in a substantive debate before the parliament and explained why this government thinks we shouldn't legislate for net zero and all the other things that are in the legislation. This bill should be debated, and this parliament should do its job.

See this speech in context