John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take Senator Sinodinos's word for the fact that he does not have rudimentary arithmetic skills. Of course, apart from that whopping 68 bills, I do not want to ignore the disallowance motion on charities regulation to be debated, either.

Many of these bills are urgent; many of them are of immense importance. They deserve more time and more consideration than does this inane matter of public importance. Of these bills eight, including the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency Bill and the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Service Providers and Other Governance Measures) Bill, require passage on or before tomorrow to allow Executive Council action on 28 June. The aged-care package, including the Aged Care (Living Longer Living Better) Bill, requires passage before 21 June. Passage of the Corporations and Financial Sector Legislation Amendment Bill is required on or before 23 June. Passage of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Legislation Amendment Bill is required on or before 26 June. Passage of the Family Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2013, the Tax laws Amendment (2013 Measures No. 2) Bill and the Sugar Research and Development Services Bill and related bills are required on or before 27 June.

In addition to those bills another 20 bills require passage by 30 June. These include Appropriation Bill (No. 1) and Appropriation Bill (No. 2), the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1), the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Bill, the Private Health Insurance Amendment (Lifetime Health Cover Loading and Other Measures) Bill and the Social Security Amendment (Supporting More Australians into Work) Bill. All of these bills are priorities. All of these bills deserve serious Senate review. All of these bills deserve debating time in this chamber, and all of these bills are, of course, so much more important than this time-wasting exercise of the matter of public importance today.

One critically important piece of legislation requiring the Senate's attention relates to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I believe that the establishment of DisabilityCare Australia is our nation's most significant social reform since Medicare. DisabilityCare Australia will ensure that Australians with significant and permanent disabilities get the support they need and allow them to live their lives with choice and dignity. To provide a stable and reliable revenue stream for DisabilityCare Australia and to provide certainty to people with a disability and their families and their carers the government is increasing the Medicare levy by half a percentage point. All revenue raised from increasing the Medicare levy will be placed in a special fund, the DisabilityCare Australia Fund, which is established by the DisabilityCare Australia Fund Bill and the DisabilityCare Australia Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill. Let's pass these critically important bills assisting some of the most vulnerable members of the Australian community because they also require passage by 30 June this year before the parliament gets up. I say to the opposition: get on with it. These bills are all so much more important than this time-wasting, desultory matter of public importance debate.

Of course, in addition to this huge legislative program, we have the Australian Education Bill which provides the foundation for a legislative framework that will deliver vital increases in funding for schools around the country. That bill enshrines the government's commitment to ensure an excellent education for all school children regardless of their background and circumstances. The bill sets out a national vision for the development of an ambitious National Plan for School Improvement that will see Australia placed in the top five countries in reading, science and mathematics by 2025. I say again, let's not have this bill, another critically important piece of legislation, delayed by more time wasting from the opposition.

I want to say, finally, it really does appear to be an irony of today's MPI, obviously totally lost on Senator Fifield, that the opposition has wasted an hour of the Senate's precious time to accuse the government of a failure to focus on the business of governing. Instead of lecturing the government, perhaps, just perhaps, for once, they should take their own advice.