Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I wish to make a short statement. The coalition will be voting against Senator Brown’s motion simply because we believe that all matters relating to procedure, such as amendments to the standing orders, should be dealt with by the correct committee, which is the Procedure Committee. While the coalition may see merit in the issue that Senator Brown is putting forward, we are not going to debate the issue, which should be discussed by the Procedure Committee. These are complex matters and we do not agree with just discussing them as a notice of motion or having them moved in the Senate in this fashion. As I have stated, we believe that the correct procedure should be followed, which is why we have the Procedure Committee in the Senate.