Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I have been in this chamber now for 16 years and there have been two occasions when attempts have been made to reorganise the program from the opposition benches—both of them by Senator Cormann. In those 16 years, what I have seen is the acceptance by all sides of this chamber that it is the government that takes responsibility for the production of the legislative program and the order of business for that legislative program. That is the position that has been held fast to through governments from both sides of this chamber. We have here an opposition that feels it is able to rip up the conventions of this Senate and of this parliament because it cannot get what it wants through the ballot box. We heard this before in 1975.