Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in reply to the motion I moved. I think Senator Coonan’s contribution is one of the most disingenuous I have ever heard. It is quite clear to everyone listening to the debate what this is about. It is not about the number of committees, it is not about the number of people on the committees, it is not even about referring this matter to the Procedure Committee. Senator Minchin made it very clear that the decision about the government control of the committees had been taken. The argument about how many people are on them and how many committees there are is something that will be examined by the Procedure Committee, but Senator Minchin will not countenance the Procedure Committee reviewing the key aspect of this. Labor know that in referring this matter to the Procedure Committee. We wanted to observe the normal process of the Senate, but we understand the stark political reality. This is the abuse of the government’s power. This is the culmination of their use of their numbers.

Senator Coonan was not able to raise one principle underlying this move. There was not one suggestion that this was not somehow driven by a principle other than that one. I give her credit: on a couple of occasions, she slipped into the discussion the underlying principle of this—numbers and power. The government say, ‘We have the numbers; we’ll seize the power.’ That is all this is about. This is not about an evolution of the Senate process. The government says: ‘It’s an evolution. We’re taking it back to 1994.’ I do not get it. How could it be an evolution and a return to 1994? I thought John Howard wanted to return to the fifties. I suppose it is an improvement that we at least have him returning to 1994. This is about power. This is about numbers. This is about the exercise of raw power, and it is about abuse of that power.

Senator Coonan’s key argument is that, effectively, because the numbers have changed, we must change the committee system. Because they have the numbers, they must control everything. That is the contention being debated here. The contention is: should the government control everything because it controls—