Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

How dare the government say that the Senate is not helping them get on with their business. How dare the government say that the Senate is the problem. Clearly the Rudd government is the problem. They cannot even manage to get the number of sitting days this year right. I have here a chart. It shows a 37 per cent drop in the number of sitting days compared to 1999 levels. No wonder the government cannot get their stuff through; they have not set the right number of sitting days and weeks for this year. They are running this place as if it is policy on the run. The fact remains that there has been a 37 per cent drop in the number of sitting days since 1999, so before Mr Albanese in the other place gets on his high horse to whinge about the Senate he needs to get his facts right about making sure that business is managed according to the number of days set.

I made this point last year when you set the number of sitting days. You knew you were going to be short. It is just wrong the way that you come in here at the last minute and try to manage this place on the run. There is no way we can allow you to continue to do this. It is wrong and we will not be supporting it. I seek leave to incorporate a chart in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The chart read as follows—