Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Can I just make this point, because it is quite clear what is happening here: we, as the opposition, in good faith gave the government this time to resolve this matter so that it could be voted on and what we have seen from the government senators is, frankly, a willingness to filibuster and extend the time on this debate. Let's be clear: we gave a commitment that we would give up this time so that the government could fix up its own mess, deal with the backpacker tax, and then deal with the recommittal, at the request of One Nation senators, which we will deal with. Now we have government backbenchers asking questions about an issue everybody knows has been well-ventilated in this debate. What a joke. Can't you run the parliament? Let's get on and vote.