Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I doubt that there has ever been a more clear and more explicit commitment by a party going into an election than that of the coalition before the last poll in promising to repeal the carbon tax. I doubt that there has ever been an election commitment that has been more oft repeated by an Australian political party than the coalition's commitment to repeal the carbon tax. What we have seen from those opposite, for as long as this parliament has been sitting since the election, has been delay, delay, delay—and that delay has had only one purpose, and that has been to seek to subvert the will of the Australian people as expressed at the last election.

We are not seeking in this motion to gag. We are not seeking to guillotine. We are seeking to afford the Australian people the opportunity for their parliament to give effect to their will. The contrast could not be greater with those on the other side. We saw those opposite in the last parliament use the gag and use the guillotine on legislation that actually sought to breach a solemn election commitment—it sought to breach the commitment given by Prime Minister Gillard to the Australian people that there would be no carbon tax under a government that she led. The former government sought to gag and guillotine debate on legislation that sought to breach an election commitment. We are doing the exact opposite. We are seeking to extend the period for debate in order to see an election commitment given effect to in the form of the legislation before this chamber. I say again, we are not proposing a gag and we are not proposing a guillotine. Those opposite, in the last session of the last parliament, guillotined 55 bills. We are seeking to afford the opportunity for an election commitment to be given effect to. What we are proposing is that this chamber sit until the job is done.