Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, I acknowledge the tone from those in the opposition as to how this has been presented. There is a set of speaking notes that I've sighted that I won't use. The tone from both the Leader of the Opposition, in particular, and the shadow minister is one that has kept completely to the issue that is contained in this bill that we've just seen, so I intend to confine my remarks in a similar way.

Can I say, first of all: no government ever, whether it was us or the opposition, has had a private member's bill brought forward in a suspension of standing orders and immediately said 'yep', without going through cabinet, without going through any processes or without going through its party room, and said, 'We're going to vote on it and deal with it all in the next hour.' I respect that there'll be objections to that, but no government anywhere in the history of Federation would have taken the suspension of standing orders that's in front of us and voted for it. That doesn't go against the principles that are contained within the private member's bill in any way. I'm advised by the Attorney-General—we had a conversation before I knew this was coming on, given issues that were raised by the Leader of the Opposition in an indulgence he took yesterday, where he raised this principle—and I have clarified with the Attorney-General that there is work being done within his department that has been going on for some time that goes to these exact issues. What the government won't do is take a bill that has been handed to us now, without us being able to go through any of our own procedures, and deal immediately with it for a period, as it says here, of no longer than one hour and then have any remaining questions put without delay.

Just to confine it to the issue the way those opposite have, I put it in these terms: every time we introduce legislation, I have kept to a very strict rule of there being delays and allowing those opposite to go through their party room procedures. It wasn't always done for us.

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