Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

This is the government clearing the decks for the election but being rude and noncommunicative in the process. There ought to have been an explanation from Senator Abetz at the start of this debate, not at the end. Senator Ludwig is very right: we should know what the program is for Friday if that is the intention, and if it is not the intention, the Senate ought to have been given the courtesy of being told that. One would expect that from the government, but we do not get that. If ever you needed a further example of why the government deserves to lose its majority and its ability to treat this Senate with contempt, here it is again. So clearing the decks for the election is written into this motion.

When we come back, I expect the government will be on this side of the chamber and in smaller numbers, and we will get back to discussing properly the programming of Senate sittings so that the public gets the best out of them and, at the same time, senators are able to plan the way in which we are able to deal with legislation. Might I add that there are 33 pieces of legislation on this slate, and one or two have already been dealt with.

The role of the Senate as house of review is to be able to go to the electorate and talk about legislation and to come back better informed, with amendments and with a government that is able to take them into account. None of that is happening here. This is just a directive from the Prime Minister’s office which says, ‘Clear the slate on Thursday night or Friday and get us out of here so that we can get ready for an election.’ There is a list of bills. The ministers are competing; they all want the legislation to go through. This is the way in which the government rides roughshod across this very important part of the democratic system—this Senate, this house of review. This motion says nothing about review. The public is locked out. The input that we should have is not going to be available. There is no excuse for this. We have sitting days in October, November and December if the government is of a mind to wait that long, but of course it is not.