Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

In dealing with that you are then determining how the program will run, so, whether you like it or not, you are actually arguing against yourself. It is the government’s right to reorganise and deal with the program. The opposition does not have the ability to do that. You are now breaking longstanding principles in this place.

Last week I had a lecture from Senator Fielding in this place about managing the program. It is your right to be critical of the program but if you want to manage the program as you are now doing you are putting at risk the proper order as to how bills are dealt with in this place. The delay that you are now inflicting—as you have indicated, I have roughly three or four minutes to deal with the rejection of this motion, and it should be rejected out of hand—is nothing more than a stunt perpetrated by Senator Cormann. Senator Cormann is seeking to give precedence to a bill that this government has not given priority to; that this government has not determined shall be dealt with today.