Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

When the government came to power there was an agreement. I understood that agreement to be that private members' bills would be presented on Friday between certain times and they would be debated out and voted upon. That was the agreement I believe all parties agreed to. It was done on a number of bills. I think Senator Fiona Nash had one that got through. That was the agreement I believe we had in this parliament, but that has been aborted today. Under the agreement that was presented to this parliament this bill should be put to a vote. It is an important bill. It is a bill that the coalition went to the people on. It should be voted on because that is what the parliament agreed under the new paradigm. This is just an attempt to talk this bill out so that four million amateur fishermen do not have their say through their representatives in parliament. They will be bitterly disappointed because they believe the people they helped to elect have a right to take their concerns into this parliament. That is being stopped by this bill not being voted on today. That is against every principle that was put forward when the new parliament started. I want to put that on the record. I am disappointed, but I am not as disappointed as those four million people who vote and fish are going to be. They will be bitter that the Labor government has acceded to the Greens. (Time expired)