Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

And whilst I am talking in the fashion I am, we have the ongoing interjecting by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, who cannot help herself. As a result of there being no decision able to be achieved in the meeting in my office, another suggestion was proposed to us: that there be a sitting of the Senate on Monday 11 May, and that that be devoted to government business, other than for question time. That is now the proposal.

Might I say, Mr President, that people can put their spin what did or did not occur in the communications, but I think the crossbenchers were able to see firsthand what occurred, and they can make up their minds; they can make their determinations as to who was being reasonable and who was being unreasonable. Mr President, we had the situation, very regrettably, of the passing of a former Prime Minister. It is the tradition and proper that we adjourn as a mark of respect for that situation; as a result, Monday of this week was denied to us. Further, if we were to have thought of sitting on Friday of this week—which normally would have been a possibility—that also has been denied to us, because Mr Fraser's funeral service will be held this coming Friday. Therefore, we have had to seek extra time for government business, and the proposal was put that the Monday before the budget session would be the appropriate time, and that it be devoted to government legislation. Indeed, the motion indicates, I think, the three bills that we have nominated which have particular time constraints in them which do require the urgent consideration of the Senate.

The Labor Party have, regrettably, continued with their course of action. I know that the crossbenchers were not able to witness the first nine months of this government because they were not here in the Senate, but for the first nine months, when Labor and the Greens had the majority, it was objection, objection, delay, and negativing everything possible—including Labor's own policies which they took to the last election. Since 1 July, when the new Senate came about, and Labor and the Greens lost their majority, we have in fact been passing things through the Senate, and there has been some substantial and reasonable progress with legislation. And so I say to the crossbenchers that the sitting on Monday is something that should be supported; and that the fact that Labor now—all of a sudden—say: 'Monday, what a good idea; we would have been supportive of that, but for—', is a rewriting of history that is disingenuous in the extreme. And I would—