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

It brings me to the point that clearly the government does not have the numbers in this place in its own right, which means that chamber management is a shared responsibility of the whole Senate. The government cannot unilaterally dictate the course of events in this place. Clearly, it is a shared responsibility and I think that is an important point for people to take note of.

Obviously, it is not always elegant in this place. That is partly a function of the fact—

Senator Payne interjecting—

Senator Cash interjecting—

Thank you—as are you, Senator Payne and Senator Cash and Senator McKenzie. It is a shared responsibility. Legislating is not a particularly elegant process. Those opposite did not help that any last night.

As I said at the start of my remarks, I very much prefer the Senator Wong of today to the Senator Wong of last night. But Senator Wong does need to work out what her line is in relation to this place. She started by saying that the management of this place is chaotic and that the government has wasted time. But then she was saying it is fantastic that 140 bills have passed through this place. Either it is kind of working, or it is not. Senator Wong just needs to refine her lines in relation to the management of this place a little more.

I acknowledge that the opposition are giving up their MPI time today. I thank them for that. It is an example of the cooperation and the way that this place can and should work, which we were endeavouring to pursue last night at 7.30, when we had Senator Conroy's special stunt sprung on this place. I might leave it at that and just say to colleagues that I appreciate them supporting the Senate sitting later tonight—as I expect will be the case.