Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Wong's attempt this afternoon to cast doubt over the motivation of the government in recalling parliament is clearly without substance. The second accusation was that somehow the government has been filibustering this afternoon. I will not bore the Senate with Senator O'Neill's contribution to filibustering that we all had to endure during the last debate on Senate electoral reform—though I could. What was important about Senator O'Neill's contribution—which she did not even reflect on—was that it was a filibustering exercise undertaken by an earlier senator in this place that led to the creation of a standing order putting time restrictions on speeches. So the most fundamental aspect of the filibustering contribution that Senator O'Neill could have reflected on was missed by her.

But back to the substance. We had a discussion this afternoon, initiated by Senator Carr, as he is entitled to do, but it went wrong on a couple of accounts. The accusation that Senator Carr was trying to make against the cabinet secretary, Senator Sinodinos, and, by extension, the minister for industry, Mr Pyne, was an accusation that Labor was guilty of—it was revealed by Senator Cormann that 58 per cent of questions had been left unanswered by Labor in the last stages of the Labor government. It was a catastrophic failure on the part of the Australian Labor Party in the Senate.

As if yesterday was not bad enough for the people who own and control the Labor movement in this place—the trade unions—today is turning out to be a catastrophic disaster of monumental scale. It was right to recall the parliament. There has been no filibustering. Labor has the whole spotlight— (Time expired)