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

I do wish to speak to this debatable motion. I wish to make this point: generally, an opposition does accept the government's right to rearrange its business, but, seriously, look at the mess. At 6.32, two minutes after the dinner break, we find out that the debate on the media laws has been deferred yet again, side-lined yet again. This is a bill that has been debated in one form or another for some 18 months, and it has never in this place been put to a vote—not once. This is Monday, so the government should know what it can do. This was fifth, behind four pieces of non-controversial legislation, yet the government has got to it and wants to filibuster. Before Senator Xenophon leaves the chamber, I would say this to the crossbench: if you need more time to do a deal, we understand that, but could you be up-front, rather than having the government filibuster and rearranging business again? If you're going to agree to another all-night sitting to get a deal done in the last minutes of this session, perhaps you could let us all know that. This bill has been pushed off, with a short period of notice, so that we can bring something else on and the minister, who's been unable to get the numbers on this debate, can have a few more hours to cut a deal that he's been trying to cut since March last year.