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

The coalition will not be supporting the exemption from the cut-off under standing order 111. The government is asking us to change procedure. We do not want to change procedure on this occasion. This is the third attempt to introduce this suite of bills. The government has introduced these bills in the past. The Senate has rejected them. The government now wants to waste time introducing these bills for a third time here when there is no case put that these bills need to be exempt from the cut-off which is a normal position in this place. The government has not made a case.

The minister has outlined that these bills have a commencement in 2011—not this year, but 2011. So there is no urgent need demonstrated for these bills to be brought into this session when the normal Senate procedure under the standing orders would be for these bills to be considered in the next session of parliament after being introduced in this session. It is clear that the bills do not have majority support in this place and I would anticipate that being the case again, so there is no urgency. I think the government is just trying to waste time and maybe make a political point out of these bills. Let the Senate do its work in its normal manner.