Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I will dignify the calls from across the table by saying we all know that in this place we work at many different times of the day throughout the week and the weekend, and we all know that it is a privilege to serve our constituents. We also know that good parliamentary process involves and requires parliamentarians being given an appropriate amount of time to consider the details of what is being put before them. The chaotic way in which the minister is proposing to advance debate on this particular bill is, frankly, not worthy of him, not worthy of his party, not worthy of this parliament, not worthy of our parliamentary democracy.

It's for all of these reasons that I have moved, in the amendment to the motion that's before the House, that debate should resume on 16 October. I want to be clear in response to the minister's pre-emptive rebuttal points which have not even been made, this is not an attempt to push the bill off into the never-never, it's not an attempt to needlessly run interference. Of course it would have been open to me to move a date next year, but the opposition respects that this is a matter which is on the government's legislative agenda. We don't agree with it, but we respect that fact.

What we also ask for is the basic respect for legislative processes which allow opposition and crossbench parliamentarians the time to properly consider what is an extremely complex matter, a matter which I might say— (Time expired)

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