Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, I suppose it is even less orderly when you are not in your own seat, but I would not have taken that point. The reality is that those in the opposition have been mouthing the statement ‘Blah, blah, blah’ about everything that the government does. It is a nice line, but the fact of the matter is that when you come down to it the only ‘Blah, blah, blah’ we are hearing is a filibuster on every debate we put up when the opposition is intent on (a) blocking government legislation and (b) using as much of the government’s legislation time to prevent the government from dealing with the backlog of legislation that is before this chamber.

It will be interesting when the debate comes, as it is coming, about the role of this opposition when the opposition is faced with the reality that it is going to have to either let some legislation go through this place, or at least deal with it expeditiously, or answer the public on its abuse of the process in this chamber of rejecting bills  and using as much of the government’s legislation time as it can in debating matters which it knows it will be voting against, despite the fact that the opposition is putting 20, 25 or 30 speakers on the speakers list. I think the public will have to judge that, unless this opposition becomes responsible in the way that it deals with the processes of government legislation in this chamber.