Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to make a very brief contribution, at this stage, on behalf of the opposition. We commend the bill to the Senate and, in so doing, we want to say—especially to the government—that the compromises that have been reached over the past few days are sensible and that they reflect well on the operations of the Senate.

Can I remind the government that it cannot claim a mandate on its policy when it itself cherry-picks through the policies that it took to the election and then adopts some and turns its back on or substantially amends others. It therefore loses the moral argument that it otherwise may have had to insist on the totality of its mandate. We, as an opposition and as a coalition, accepted the verdict of the Australian people on 24 November 2007, and I think anybody who has followed this debate would have seen the coalition adopting a very constructive and positive approach to ensuring that we have now come to a conclusion which I think reflects well on the Senate and is a very balanced bill. It is one that I commend to the Senate on its third reading, but in particular to the government. I would encourage the government—and, if I pick up the vibes correctly, we need to especially encourage the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Gillard—to take a deep breath, look at exactly what has been passed by the Senate and acknowledge it as an appropriate compromise and a good way for us to be able to move forward. I commend the bill.