Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Here we have another day and another stunt from the Leader of the Government in the Senate. This stunt is motivated not by the national interest but by the media plan of the Prime Minister's office. It is the latest in a series of stunts which underline two things: first, this government's inability to manage the chamber and, second, that you can always trust the Liberal Party to focus on the Liberal Party's political interests and never on the national interest.

On a day when you would think that the Minister for Employment might want to talk about jobs, given the thousands of workers and their families who are dealing with the news of Toyota's decision to close in light of his government's actions, instead he wants to perform a political stunt—probably at the request of the Prime Minister's office. Here we have a Leader of the Government in the Senate who is too weak to stand up to the Prime Minister's office and manage this chamber. He is a Minister for Employment who never says anything about employment.

We know this partly from what Senator Abetz himself said on the last day he was in this place. Senators might recall that we had a suspension of standing orders debate on the last day of the last sitting period. What—surprise, surprise!—was being required of the Senate then? The Senate had to vote on the carbon package. That was the government's main priority. We had to suspend standing orders and debate it and get it resolved before we rose. That happened on the last day of the last sitting period but the very next sitting day the Leader of the Government in the Senate came in and said, 'Actually, we've changed our minds'—and for that you can read that the Prime Minister's office had changed its media plan—'and we now want to talk about building and construction workers rather than carbon.' Heaven forbid that we might actually talk about jobs! Heaven forbid that we might actually talk about jobs and employment at a time when families are facing the end of their employment—as a result of this government's auto-sector policies. Let us be clear: the Leader of the Government in the Senate does the bidding of the Prime Minister's office. At some point he needs to stand up and manage the chamber properly.

The minister made a number of factual errors in his assertions about the ABCC. My first point is this: it is not unusual—and I am sure that Senator Abetz has on previous occasions lectured the chamber about this—for a bill to be referred for further inquiry. I suggest that it is in fact likely that in times past Senator Abetz has himself referred matters for further inquiry. Second, this is not a long inquiry. The committee is getting on and doing its job. When the committee has reported to the Senate, the Senate will consider the bill. That is how things work here in the Senate. I also make the point that the Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee has considered this legislation and has raised concerns about the bill's trespass on personal rights and liberties. But this is not, of course, a government that is interested in scrutiny, accountability or the public interest. The senator also talked about Labor's announcement of its support for a task force involving the Australian Crime Commission and police across the country. He said, 'Well, we previously had a task force—it was called the ABCC.' Let us be very clear: the ABCC did not have the power to investigate criminal matters. It was an industrial watchdog. It was there to police industrial laws; it was not there to deal with police matters.

We on this side, the Labor Party, will have no truck with those involved in corruption and we will not support anything other than the strongest form of investigation by the police into allegations of criminal conduct. That is what we are supporting. What we will not be part of is a stunt that is all about a government media plan and not about getting outcomes. This motion demonstrates yet again that the Leader of the Government in the Senate is simply seeking to manage the chamber in accordance with the media plan imposed by the Prime Minister's office. Labor will not be supporting the motion.