Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

The government are proposing to combine the Senate legislation and references committees so that they chair each and every committee. That means they will control all the Senate committees and the work that committees do. Family First believes that the changes being made by the government are an abuse of power. These changes are yet another example of why no government should have control of the Senate. When a government has control of the Senate, there is the temptation to use that power and control to weaken what the Senate is supposed to do—that is, to be a house of review. There is always the temptation to try to stifle dissent and the views of your opponents. I can understand that: no-one particularly likes being criticised or having their faults shown up.

But, while the Senate is often used for political point-scoring and cheap shots, it can also be used to the great benefit of Australia. The committee system can be used to improve our understanding of important issues and find and fix flaws in legislation. When the government of the day has total control, it is easy for that control of the Senate to go to the government’s head and for that power to be abused. I think that is happening here tonight. I do not want to oversell the point but I think that a committee system which shares the power more proportionally is a better system than what is proposed here.

Family First thinks that a Senate committee system where the chair of every committee is a government senator does not reflect a reasonable sharing of power. It is ‘winner takes all’. The current system, where legislation committees are chaired by the government and reference committees by the non-government parties, seems to strike a good balance and make commonsense. So why is the government making these changes? It is clearly an attempt to use its power to stifle debate, reduce scrutiny of issues and diminish any view other than its own. All this is designed to make the government’s life a little easier. But I would suggest that weakening the role of the Senate is a false economy and that the government may come to miss the discipline of a strong and accountable Senate. I think the government needs to be challenged so it stays on its toes. Family First believes this is another step in seeing the Senate move from a house of review to a house of one view. Family First will oppose this move.

Question put:

That the motion (That the motion (Senator Ellison’s) be agreed to.) be agreed to.