Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I think the evidence for the fact that this is a stunt is being demonstrated by the fact that the motion, or the proposed amendment, that Senator Gallagher circulated is being circulated, essentially, as I was getting to my feet to move the order of business. This is a standard motion that is moved every Thursday to bring on non-controversial legislation so the Senate can transact those bills where there is no dispute. Also, part of this motion is to provide for government business to be brought on after the conclusion of the non-controversial legislation.

The convention in this place is that the government of the day determines what government business is. The government of the day determines the order in which government business is called. There is a lot of government business that is before the Senate, and it is the responsibility of the government to order that legislation in an orderly way—in a way that can see important legislation transacted—and that is what we have done through the course of this week. This has actually been, up to this point, a good week in the Senate. We have dealt with the appropriation bills, we managed to have the plebiscite bill come to a vote in good time and we also managed to legislate a 25 per cent reduction in licence fees for radio and TV. So this has been a productive week for the Senate, and the Senate works best when the government of the day is allowed to order the business in government business time, hence the name 'government business time'.

That is what I was seeking to do by moving the motion that I have. It is a routine motion. What Labor is seeking to do is not to demonstrate any genuine interest in the matter that they are seeking to bring on. They know, I think as all colleagues in this place know, that in relation to the backpacker tax the government said before the election that it would look at the issue. We have looked at the issue and we have put forward a proposition. Obviously, there are discussions that are continuing in this place with a range of colleagues, and that is appropriate. So we will not be part of this stunt and we are of the view that the motion that I have moved should proceed without amendment.