Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The proposition before the Senate is that we suspend the standing orders so that a matter that Senator Abetz wishes to debate with regard to the local government referendum can be brought on ahead of all other government business. There are a number of bills before this parliament that we need to get through before we leave here for the winter. We were dealing with the EPBC Amendment Bill and dealing with a filibuster that the coalition set up and have to have talked out. They continue to talk it out so that they are not forced to go to a vote. They will eventually be forced to go to the vote, but there has been a filibuster on, so it is an absolute cheek to come in here after setting up a filibuster on one bill and then want everything else suspended to deal with this matter. This matter should be dealt with when we debate the referendum bill, which was on the Notice Paper for today. If we had not had the filibuster on the EPBC Amendment Bill, we would have been onto the local government bill and had this debate in the context of the debate on that referendum bill.

The Local Government Association are holding their national conference here in Canberra at the moment. They want this matter taken seriously and they do not want it being played with in a political sense. It is quite obvious from what Senator Brandis has just said that the coalition have no intention of supporting the yes case. All they have agreed is that they will not oppose the question being put. In other words, they will not oppose a referendum being held.