Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

As you can see there, another opportunity for the Manager of Government Business in the Senate to explain the urgency as to why we have to say no, why we have to overturn a normal Senate procedure, just because the Prime Minister's office have told you that you cannot send it to a committee. It is no wonder we are seeing reports in the paper about the shambolic government. It is all over today's papers. The Prime Minister's office is being criticised by the whole backbench and you can see today that that shambolic management of government has now stretched from the executive wing, stretched from the House of Representatives and come in here.

We have the Prime Minister's office saying, 'This bill must go through.' Just as the Liberal Party backbench committee rejected bringing on the setting up of the medical research fund—I am sure you are on that because I know you're interested in these topics—just as the backbench said no, we are not going to be railroaded by the executive, we are not going to be railroaded by the 18 year Prime Minister's office with a tin ear, we are not going to be railroaded by ministers coming here around saying, 'Just vote for this and be quiet,' we want to have a look at it.

The Senate is now saying the same: why are we being forced to overturn normal procedures? Why will this government not accept that the normal processes of this Senate should apply? We know it is because the Prime Minister's office thinks it is actually running the entire parliament, both chambers. It thinks it can just tell the Liberal Party backbench what to do. It thinks it can tell the House of Representatives what to do and, more importantly and arrogantly, it thinks it can tell this chamber what to do. Well, this chamber is not going to swallow that sort of treatment, any more than Senator Macdonald is. Senator Ian Macdonald made a very important contribution on radio this morning. He does not make many, but this was one. He said: 'We've got a government that's just rushing willy-nilly. It's not consulting its own people. It's not taking the time to have conversations with its own backbench. And it should stop.' So its own backbenchers are now so upset at the conduct of the executive of the Prime Minister's office they are in open rebellion at the conduct.

What we are seeing here is that the Prime Minister's office has obviously picked up the phone to the whip and the deputy whips, picked up the phone to call Senator Birmingham, picked up the phone to call Senator Fifield, and said: 'I want this bill through. How dare the Senate want to have a look at it in a committee process?' Well, just like that Liberal Party backbench economics committee, we say no. It is unfair on the Senate, it is unfair on the parliament and we are entitled to examine this bill just like we examine every other bill that people want referred to committees. That is what is at stake here today.

It is a shambolic government. There are reports in today's paper of Ms Bishop 'going bananas' at the Prime Minister because the Prime Minister's office had leaked that she is not allowed to go to Lima because they do not trust her and they have got to send the hard man Mr Robb to keep her company—and the Prime Minister's office leak it! No wonder Ms Bishop storms into Mr Robb's office and points out to Mr Robb that she is actually his boss, not the other way round. No wonder she storms into Mr Abbott's office. We are now seeing leaks from private meetings between the Prime Minister of Australia and the foreign minister of Australia. The National Security Committee has got more leaks than the House of Representatives had yesterday! We get almost a daily transcript of the fights between Scott Morrison, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Defence. (Time expired)