Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

The last four, Senator Ferguson reminds me. That is the measure of how much you are in touch, Senator Sherry. It is not a question of the interjections in the Senate chamber. It is a question of policy and it is a question of whether the Australian community, in a democratic fashion, places its trust in a certain party to govern the country for the next three years.

Quite rightly so, every three years we go to the people of Australia and the people of Australia determine who is in touch. We have said, and the Prime Minister has said, that we do not take one thing for granted. We do not take anything for granted in dealing with issues which affect the people of Australia, and we continue to work on them on a daily basis. This is part of that. It is part of ensuring that the Senate will work in an efficient manner, that it reflects a fair make-up of the chamber and that there continues to be accountability, as I have outlined, in relation to estimates hearings, question time, the referral of matters and bills to committees and also in relation to the time allowed for debate.

We have a record in the last 12 months of a majority by this government which demonstrates that the accountability of the Senate has been maintained and that we will continue to maintain the Senate in its proper role. But, as an elected government, we will not have a situation in which the will of the people of Australia is thwarted or obstructed by unreasonable and inappropriate actions. We have said that on occasion when we have come to crucial pieces of legislation which we have put forward in this chamber. We are a government which has been duly elected, and the will of the people has been reflected. Albeit that some people in this chamber might disagree with it and regret it very much, the fact is that this government has a majority in the Senate as a result of an election by the people of Australia. It is only fair that those policies that we have been elected on are then allowed to be progressed.