Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

Can I say that I'm absolutely astounded that, at this stage in this debate, the government has sought to exercise precedence to prevent discussion of this issue and to try and impose its view of convention in relation to pairing. So I thought I would take a moment to share with other senators in this place some of this former government's history on pairing. I was in the Senate when Senator Dominic Foreman was denied a pair by the Howard government because it suited their purposes. And I think Senator Dominic Foreman's family and others would be pleased to have this on the record now. Fortunately at the time, Senator Harradine said, 'I will not play this game.' That's what Senator Harradine said. He said, 'I will not vote with the government if you deal with convention in that fashion.' The issue for Senator Dominic Foreman was he had a heart condition and he had medical advice that he could not fly. And this crowd would deny him a pair. So I'm not going to stand here and listen to Senator Mathias Cormann carry on about convention because I know what this crowd has been prepared to do in the past.

But let me calm down and reflect on the important issue of convention in pairing. Every senator in this place knows they don't want to end up like the other chamber. We know the consequences if you start playing games with that type of convention. We know how impossible allowing the Senate chamber to function would become were that the case. So we know these issues, we know these problems. I would suggest that the government use overnight to seriously reconsider its position on this matter.

So far we have had the government build advice from the clerks to suggest it says that, 'No; there's a different convention.' We know that advice is false. There is one precedent, as I said earlier. Remember, senators: we're not talking about an Independent senator here; we are talking about the Jacqui Lambie Network party. If Senator Cory Bernardi suggests that that party may not be a party, I haven't seen anything to reinforce that position, and none of the Tasmanian senators that I have heard from have suggested that either. I don't know if Senator Bernardi is doing a bit of recruiting here or whether he's had discussions I don't know about or has read something that I haven't seen, but we are indeed talking about the Jacqui Lambie Network party. Let me say one thing to the smaller parties or, indeed, the crossbench in this place: if you allow convention to be eroded in the way this government is attempting to do in relation to the position clearly indicated by former senator Jacqui Lambie, the same will happen to you.

We're not running a position that suits our purposes solely in relation to this bill. This is the position that Labor will take in relation to every matter that Jacqui Lambie clearly indicated in her last speech in this place. It's a position that she quite clearly indicated after she had sought advice about how best to represent her party's position in her absence and after the government refused to negotiate, as Senator Mathias Cormann just appraised us, but none of that's actually news. Former senator Jacqui Lambie sought advice on how to proceed. She followed that advice in the chamber and clearly indicated her position. I thank other senators who've made the point that this debate hasn't changed anything in the position that Jacqui Lambie indicated.

The amusing anecdote I'd add to this debate is Senator Cory Bernardi's position here. One day Senator Cory Bernardi was a member of the Liberal Party and the next day he wasn't. Are we now, following Senator Fifield's burrow, suggesting that every day we must check that every senator who is paired is still within the party that they were in when the pair application was accepted? Of course we're not saying that sort of rubbish, Senator Fifield. To suggest the extension that you have in your contribution is simply ridiculous. What it shows is the desperation of this government.

It's not the only thing that shows the desperation of this government. I'm not sure whether it occurred to any of the other senators today when they looked at the red—the number of bills that the government introduced today! Because tomorrow Senator Fifield wants to get up and say, 'We're still doing business!' We all know that is meaningless. We know that introducing a bill onto the Notice Paper does not meet any reasonable assessment of outcomes. We know this government's been bogged down. We know the problems that the current Prime Minister has. But to let all of that deteriorate into the situation we're facing now is very, very alarming.

There's about a minute and a half before we move to the adjournment. I would suggest to the government that they take the time overnight to seriously reconsider this issue and seriously consider whether they do want to maintain convention, because I was here when it deteriorated in the past. The only thing that saved the Senate on that occasion was Senator Brian Harradine saying, 'I'll take my vote back from the government unless you deal with the situation in relation to Senator Dominic Foreman with integrity.' That was the only thing that helped convention survive on that occasion.

I've now spent pretty much as much time as I'm able to talk on this debate so that we do not vote on it tonight. I would encourage another senator, if necessary, to talk for about 30 seconds to ensure that that's the case, because the government needs to seriously reconsider this issue. Your representation of convention is confected, and senators on the cross bench need to seriously consider how they want this chamber to operate in the future. (Time expired)

Progress reported.