Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

We are in a situation where last night the opposition knocked back the opportunity to have three hours debate on the bill. We have now spent 2½ hours this morning debating procedural motions, which the opposition has sought to use, to delay the Senate considering the bill. So we are now in a position where the Senate has wasted a potential 5½ hours to debate the telecommunications legislation by virtue of the opposition’s tactics. Those tactics are open to them—that is a decision for them—but the Senate and the Australian public have to understand that these are tactics designed to prevent debate on the legislation. We have already lost 5½ hours of debate on the legislation. So, when they say they want to debate the legislation, they have already rejected the opportunity of debating it for another 5½ hours. The key point is this: given that the guillotine motion has been carried—