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

Duniam doing deals with the Greens. We're going to use that in Tasmania.

As we can see from Senator Wong, by her conduct at the table as I speak, Labor have decided to behave not like grown-ups but like spoiled children. It is a great shame. Members of the public—I think there are only about half a dozen in the gallery; we are not being broadcast at the moment—look at this chamber and see us unable to deal on the last day of the sitting year with legislation which is largely uncontroversial but is time-sensitive legislation which the Labor Party actually barely 24 hours ago agreed to deal with in a much more efficient manner. They must hang their heads in shame.

I can understand why the Labor Party is finishing this year on a sour note and grumpy. Nevertheless, the government does need these bills, as the opposition has acknowledged. It is pathetic, frankly, Senator Wong, that you are delaying the chamber that you are delaying debate on these bills through the long and pointless filibuster we saw in the last hour or more. What I call upon you to do, Senator Wong, is to get of the way, let the Senate do its business and then you can depart for your Christmas holidays and hopefully you will come back in a better mood in February.

There I was sharing a joke with Senator Duniam about his new-found friendship with Senator McKim, and get the bile as we always get from Senator Brandis. But we know this is probably his last sitting day, so I can understand he is feeling a little sensitive.

I want to make few points on this. The first point is it was said, somewhat offensively, that there was a pointless debate previously. The general business motion that Senator Hinch moved was in relation to children in protection and the care of children in protection or under protection orders. It is a very serious issue. I do thank Senator Hinch for bringing that matter to the Senate, because I think his advocacy on these issues is well known. So I do not think it is reasonable to say it was a pointless debate. I think that was a somewhat tasteless remark, frankly, from the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

I would like to make this point, too, about cooperation. This is the fourth hours motion in four days—the fourth hours motion in four days. And that is after we have offered them an MPI time, we have given up private senators business, we have given them opposition time to debate their legislation and—

Senator Brandis interjecting—

we were very judicious in our remarks in relation to, I think, the two bills that passed before question time in order to facilitate the program. So the high and mighty attitude with which Senator Brandis made his most recent remarks, frankly, is not on point, although we have come to understand that is the only way in which this gentleman knows how to deal with other individuals in this chamber. High and mighty is how he wishes to deal with people, which is possibly why people do not like dealing with him and try to deal with others around him—but that is a different matter.

This is the fourth hours motion in four days. We have continuing chaos in the handling of the program by the government. It is not for us to manage the government's program; it is for the government to manage the program. The fact is that the reason there is chaos in this program is that they have been in chaos on the backpackers tax. Let's call this for what it is. The reason they are in chaos on the legislative front is that they could not work out what their policy was on the backpackers tax. It was 32.5 per cent, and then it was 19, and no-one was ever going to move from that. Then it was 15, and no-one was ever going to move from that. Now it is 15, with a bunch of goodies for the Greens. Oh, Senator Duniam, I am so glad you are here, because we think we should put out a picture of you with Senator McKim, maybe with a love heart around it! You are joined at the hip when it comes to the backpackers tax! We look forward to that! Bothers in arms, shall we say—brothers in arms on the backpackers tax.

But understand that the reason there is chaos on the legislative program, the reason the government needs to move this motion, is that they are in chaos—