Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I actually agree with Senator Wong; we should move immediately to deal with the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018, which is a very important piece of national-security-related legislation. If the opposition are indicating through Senator Wong that they want to bring that debate on immediately then the government is happy to facilitate such a motion.

Of course, what has happened is that there was a bipartisan agreement in relation to the amendments to the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill, and the amendments agreed between the government and the opposition were passed by the House of Representatives. Clearly, the Labor Party wants to play tactical games in order to enable Mr Shorten to put our offshore protection arrangements at risk. So, in order to facilitate Mr Shorten playing tactical games, the Labor Party tried to gazump the government's legislative agenda in this chamber.

The Labor Party, the opposition, has actually sought to bring on government legislation where the government is saying that it needs more time for it to be considered. How often has that happened before? So don't tell us about games. If you're genuinely interested in national security, let's adjourn the debate on the home affairs bill now. I will support a motion to adjourn the debate on the home affairs bill now to bring on the bill in relation to the other matters immediately.