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

I have a point of order, Mr Speaker. It goes to your ruling, which certainly there is precedent for. I'm not questioning the basis of that. But it is possible to deliver other outcomes given that the stated objective of the mover of this legislation was to have a consensus. If there is a definition of division, 62 each is it. I believe that there is a possibility of further scope and discussion in order to get greater agreement. I don't think that this is a positive way for this to move forward. This isn't really aimed at you, Mr Speaker, because you are in accordance with the procedures and precedents. I accept that that's the case. But normally in this place the context would be an adversarial contest, which is what we often have. What we have here is legislation which we're told is about building a consensus. Clearly that's not the case. It's certainly within the scope of the government, and I would ask it to consider the opportunity that it has now to actually get some genuine discussion and some agreement to resolve these issues in a more satisfactory way.

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