Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition comes to this motion bringing to bear our usual reasonableness. I think Senator Collins has mischaracterised the opposition. We have been, I think, a particularly cooperative opposition in terms of the management of the chamber. On many occasions we have ceded our own time to facilitate the passage of legislation through this place. On a number of occasions we have ceded our private senator's business time on a Thursday morning to facilitate the passage of legislation. In fact, the bill that we were just debating was being debated because the opposition agreed to the Senate sitting an hour and a half earlier—again to facilitate the good working of this chamber. So we are not opposed per se to extending hours or varying arrangements; we look at these things on a case-by-case basis. But we have a hesitation with this particular motion because, as we get towards the end of the year, we will never get a guarantee from the other side that they will refuse to deploy the gag, that they will refuse to guillotine. We would never get that undertaking from the government.

We are seeing now what we tend to see at this time each year, and that is a contradictory approach by the government. On the one hand they are seeking additional hours, but we all know that next week we will see guillotine motions and we will see the gag deployed. What the government is seeking to give in terms of hours to the chamber for debate, they will take away at the end of the sitting period. So there will probably be no net difference in the actual number of hours that are dedicated for the debate of legislation. It is perverse to say, 'We are going to extend hours' and then say next week, 'We are going to gag.' There is an inherent contradiction there.

This motion and the motions which we will no doubt see in the days to come ultimately reflect the government's chronic incapacity to manage the business of the government in this chamber within the hours and the days that they set. We should not forget that it is the government that set the number of sitting days. It is the government that list the legislation for government business time, that list the priority, that list the order. It is entirely within the government's capacity to manage the legislative agenda within the bounds that they themselves set. They set the days and they list the legislation. If they are having difficulty managing within the bounds that they have set, then perhaps they should consider allocating additional sitting days when they set the sitting program. Perhaps the government should consider a more cooperative approach with the parties in this place to facilitate the debate and passage of legislation.

If we thought that there was behind this motion a genuine intent to make this place work better, we might be minded to support it. But we know what is coming next week. We know the gag is coming, we know the guillotine is coming. This government is not only manifestly incompetent when it comes to managing the affairs of government; it is the same in relation to the legislative program. I cannot level the blame entirely at those sitting opposite me; I think Mr Albanese needs to take a fair share of the responsibility for the mismanagement of the legislative program in this place.

I do not want to unduly detain the chamber but I think it is important for the record to show that there is not goodwill behind this motion and that we will see contradictory behaviour by the government next week when we see them go back to their old habits. I have been in this place for eight or so years. Senator Macdonald has been in this place longer than anyone who is presently here in the chamber. I know that in my experience—and, I would hazard a guess, probably in his experience as well—I have never seen so many attempts to vary the hours and the routine of business as we have seen under this government. We are not seeing orderly management. It is something that the government may want to reflect on over the summer break.