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

I thank the Senate. Let us understand what is happening here, Senators. We have already had backgrounded to media—to Lateline last night and toSkytoday—on what the Senate will be doing. Media have already been told to prepare for the Prime Minister's announcement because guillotine and gag will be moved in this chamber to get the bills voted on. I want the crossbench to be very clear what you are being asked to do.

You are being asked to run this chamber so as to accord with Mr Abbott's media schedule. Regardless of your views on carbon and—as I said to Senator Lazarus yesterday, I disagreed with his speech but I respect his right to put it—I respect the fact that you have differences of views on the substance of the matter, but I utterly object, as does every senator on this side, to this chamber of the Australian parliament being used as a plaything of the Prime Minister. What an outrage that we would have the Senate being asked to gag and guillotine legislation so that Mr Abbott can do a press conference tomorrow in time for prime time television. That is what is occurring.

Where do senators in this parliament find this out? Do we find this out because the Leader of the Government in the Senate comes in and tells us what they want to do? No, we find out because Lateline was told last night to expect an announcement and we find out because Sky tweets that they have been told by the government to expect the bills to be voted on by 12.45 pm today. Understand what a disgrace this is. It is utterly disgraceful to run the Australian parliament entirely about the Prime Minister's media schedule.

I want everyone in this chamber to understand what the opposition was prepared to put on the table in the interests of proper practice, in the interests of ensuring that this Senate does what Australians expect us to do. We said very clearly, after the meeting that the Leader of the Government in the Senate held yesterday, that we were prepared to give up our time tomorrow when we would debate a Labor bill and our time tomorrow afternoon when we would debate a topic that Labor put to the chamber to ensure a committee stage of the debate in this legislation. And as Senator Xenophon has put—and I trust he will not mind; I am saying nice things about you, Nick, not bad ones—the committee stage is a very important part of Senate practice. It is where ministers are asked questions. It is where undertakings are given. It is where there is clarification about the interpretation of the application of legislation. It is the only time in this parliament where that is truly able to be done. And I say that as someone who was a minister on that side for a number of years. This is where the real work is done.

I would remind those opposite that, whatever criticisms you might have of us, you are guillotining when you have been offered more time. You are not guillotining and gagging because it is the end of the session and you have to get bills through; you are guillotining now, on a Wednesday, so that Tony Abbott can hold a prime ministerial press conference in time for prime time television tomorrow. That is what is occurring. It is an absolute disgrace and really demonstrates the arrogance of this government. You will not even allow a committee stage in a debate when you have been given more time. So be clear: you have been given more time to enable that debate to occur, time that the opposition has given up, in order to ensure that there is a proper process, a committee stage of this debate, and that amendments can be moved by the Palmer United Party, the Labor Party and any other crossbench senator. You have spat in the face of that offer and you have said: 'Do you know what? We don't want a debate. We just want a media conference. We're going to run the Senate in time for the media and we will not even give the Senate the courtesy of telling senators what our proposition is. We're going to go out and background the media ahead.' What an utter disgrace with respect to how to handle this chamber. I say to the crossbench: do not start this new Senate by supporting such a disgraceful act.