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

Senator Ludwig has outlined the inadequacies of the government by attacking the man. He has attacked Senator Cormann rather than the substance of the motion. He is trying to thwart the motion by indicating that it is a pantomime and things of this nature. I want to take us back to the real issue. The reason for us seeking precedence is that there will be thousands of Australians who will not have the benefit of cataract surgery if the government’s course of action were to be continued. That is the crux of the matter. That is what we are fighting for. We have come from that policy position very early on. We wanted to disallow the regulations, and that has been flagged for seven weeks.

It should be no surprise to the government that we wanted to move down this path, and we tried to do this through all the procedural avenues recognised as Senate convention, until yesterday. Yesterday, the government removed the bill and removed the opportunity for it to be debated in this chamber—and to be amended in the fashion that Senator Ludwig indicated. That amendment, on very good advice from the Clerk’s office, would have facilitated the particular course of action we wanted, and that was to make sure that the rebate for cataract surgery remained in place so thousands of Australians would not be disadvantaged.

On Monday and Tuesday this week the bill was listed on our Order of Business, subject to its introduction from the House of Representatives. Yesterday it was listed, and then miraculously removed. This is not an ambush, as Senator Ludwig indicates, because we have been very open and frank about our wish to amend the bill to achieve our outcome. That has been known for some time. We were then forced to take urgent action, and the urgent action was finalised this morning. A bill was presented to our Senate tactics group and we agreed to that bill. We have taken a sensible course of action. It is an unusual step, as Senator Ludwig indicates, but we were forced into this by the urgent circumstances. This legislation was going to be ready this weekend and the legislation was not going to arrive in this chamber for us to deal with in a timely manner.

On top of that, Senator Ludwig said, ‘It was all Senator Cormann.’ Apart from the Liberal and National parties, who are as one on this, we have two other senators. We cannot adjust or rearrange government business without the support of the majority. This is a democracy, as my colleague Senator Cormann mentioned, and we are doing this in the best interests of thousands of people who will now, if the government supports this in the lower house, continue to receive the rebate they are entitled to for cataract surgery. That is the basis of what we are doing and we have been forced into this urgent set of circumstances because of the government’s tactics in the House of Representatives yesterday.