David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was filibustering to spare you from having to make a decision, Senator Bernardi. It was filibustering to spare the coalition from having to grapple with a real political issue. It does not stand as testament to how this place can work when it is scrutinising legislation. Rather, it stands as continuing evidence of the policy confusion of those opposite.

It is not just through obstructing government legislation that the opposition have sought to frustrate this government and to waste the time of the Senate. The opposition claim that there are not enough sitting days, but then they constantly use up the time of the Senate on exercises that distract and divert the Senate from the main issues of the day—exercises that change nothing and that are basically devices to frustrate a government which does not have a Senate majority. One might say this debate is a prime example of that fact. These include pointless censure motions and long lists of speakers on second reading debates, often when positions on bills are clear and bills have already had ample debate. The opposition and the crossbenches have the right to move their motions and to speak on bills as much as they like, but if they choose to do this as a deliberate time-wasting tactic, as deliberate filibustering, then they cannot complain when we run out of time at the end of sittings. We know from the experience of the last parliament that, when they are in government and when they have a Senate majority, the Liberal and National parties do not stand for those tactics. In the last parliament, they used the guillotine ruthlessly to push through their flagship legislation such as the Work Choices bill—that Orwellian named legislation, a bill for which they had no mandate from the people and a bill which ultimately wrecked their government.

I do not blame the Prime Minister and government ministers, such as Mr Albanese, for becoming impatient with the tactics of the opposition in the Senate. The Labor Party has seen it all before. This is an irresponsible and destructive opposition. It has no interest in good policy outcomes. It regards Senate committees as an opportunity to delay public policy debate rather than to enhance it.