Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Fifield opened his comments with remarks about the shared responsibility of managing this chamber. Usually at the beginning of the last fortnight we have a leaders and whips meeting, where we all sit down—the whips and the leaders of the parties and the crossbenches—and look at what the government want to get through in the two weeks, and we talk about it. That has not happened. It has been day-by-day chaos in this place. We had extended hours last week with no notice, extended hours on Monday with little notice and extended hours yesterday with little notice. Then we got a phone call—at least Senator Fifield gave us a heads-up—at about quarter past eight this morning saying that this was in the offing. So, instead of the normal way we do business in the last two weeks, what we are seeing is this day-to-day chaos while the government try to get whoever they can to agree to whatever they need to get the ABCC up, because they just want to be able to go out and say: 'Look: we've achieved this!'

That was what was happening last night. There were amendments going everywhere. They obviously had not got all their ducks in a row and were not able to do what they wanted to do, so they were holding on by their fingertips, flying by the seat of their pants, because they did not know what was going on. They have not been able to manage the agenda, either last week or this week, to the point we have got to here with this motion about Wednesday night.

Just so people are clear, on a Thursday we do not have much government business time. When they say, 'Look at the bills that are on here; this is what we want to achieve,' there are a significant number of bills there. If they have not already done it, they are going to be asking for private members' time and for general business time. We did not think the ALP should have given up some of their very important, hard-won general business time to help the government get through their non-controversial bills, but they did. The government will be coming and asking for that time tomorrow, or we will be sitting late again tomorrow.

Minister Fifield says, 'We've got a manageable agenda for tomorrow.' I do not think so, and I expect to be sitting late tomorrow. Even if the opposition benches do give up their private members' time and their general business time, the government will still be asking for more. They have not been able to manage the agenda. Where was the leaders and whips meeting? What we usually do, folks—for those who have not had the pleasure of going to a leaders and whips meeting—is sit down and work out how much time each bill is going to take: what is achievable, what is not and what is the top of the government's priority list. It did not happen, and this is the result.

When you talk about shared responsibility, talk to the hand, because you made no effort to involve the whole of the chamber in the discussions, as is normal in the last two weeks before we rise in June and, particularly, when we rise at the end of the year. It did not happen; chaos is the result.