Ruth Webber (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make some extremely brief remarks. It is true as my colleague Senator Carr said: we have been advised that the government needs the Schools Assistance (Learning Together—Achievement Through Choice and Opportunity) Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2006 to go through here by two o’clock in order for schools to be presented with the letters allocating them their money. The Labor Party would never in any way want schools to not get the assistance that they so desperately require from this government. However, it needs to be put on the record that this legislation would have gone through a lot more smoothly if the government had spoken to us. We were not expecting this bill at this time. I am sure my colleague Senator Wong would have been more than happy to incorporate her remarks if there had been some common courtesy and consultation.