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

I remind both the government and the opposition that the crossbench is seriously involved in the process in this parliament, and if there is a dispute between the two parties it will ultimately determine the matter. The opposition is quite right: the government has not scheduled enough Senate sittings—and that is a matter that should be reviewed forthwith. We are in a period of global economic uncertainty, to say the least. We have rising unemployment, we have huge climate change challenges and we have very important social issues to debate—and you do not deal with these issues by not sitting. So I agree with the opposition—and it is a point that the Greens have been taking right down the line—that these sittings are too few and should be extended. That said, there is a need for us to get on with the business of the nation in the Senate in the next two weeks, and we intend to help facilitate outcomes rather than hinder them.

The Greens have three bills coming on on Thursday. The first is about ending junk food advertising in children’s TV viewing hours. The second is Senator Milne’s bill on the feed-in laws to allow people who have renewable energy, such as solar panels, to be adequately paid for the electricity they feed into the grid, thus saving greenhouse gas pollution. The third bill, by Senator Siewert, is about ensuring that there are equal rights for people in the workplace in this country and that there is not discrimination, as there is under the current laws. We hope that the government and the opposition will be mindful that, in the very limited time available for discussion of important pieces of legislation brought forward by the crossbench, we would be looking for a result—that is, a second reading outcome—on those bills, or at least some of them, on Thursday afternoon in private members’ time. A bit of goodwill would be enormously well received by the Greens. Notwithstanding that, we have goodwill towards this place and we will be facilitating an outcome on, in particular, the bills the government has listed as urgent.