Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I want to be clear about what we are agreeing to here. We have a bill that puts forward over $6 billion worth of savings. We were denied a public inquiry. We were denied a hearing with the appropriate length of time that is required to look into what is a broad swathe of changes to higher education policy, to renewable energy policy and to income support, which is being cut from some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Now here we are, after this government has spent the first two days of the parliament filibustering, talking about God knows what, and we are being asked to stay here to ram this bill through the parliament tonight. That is what this hours motion does. It forces us to stay here because the government has not been doing its job and given this legislation the scrutiny it needs. (Time expired)