Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, President. I will simply inform the Senate that this motion, which will hopefully be circulated shortly, is a motion to provide for the Education and Employment Legislation Committee to undertake at least two public hearings in its inquiry into the provisions of the Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023. I believe the Senate determined earlier today to conduct this inquiry. The committee subsequently has met, and government senators have blocked any ability for hearings to be undertaken. This could be resolved relatively quickly and simply if the government is willing to simply concur with the motion, directing the committee to hold at least two public hearings. I think the Senate has indicated the way it is likely to vote on this, given it did direct the hearing be undertaken.

I'm happy to speak for a minute or two while the government considers its position in relation to this, but, again, to be clear as to what is occurring on this matter: earlier today the Senate made clear that it wished for an inquiry to take place in relation to government legislation, namely the Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023. In making that will clear, obviously the expectations of the opposition and I believe all of the crossbenchers who supported the opposition at that time were that a normal inquiry would occur. Submissions would be sought; submissions would be received. There would be a willingness to conduct hearings in relation to it, and the ordinary course of events would happen, just as transparency provisions, usual practice of the Senate, would ordinarily allow for such transparency to happen.

As it turned out, the committee subsequently met and I understand government senators used their numbers in that legislation committee to block the request, the perfectly reasonable request, for some hearings to be agreed to as part of that inquiry. And so we find ourselves here, on Thursday afternoon of the sitting fortnight, having to bring the motion to the Senate simply to enable the committee to function in its own ordinary, usual way.

We can truncate all of this fairly quickly if the government can give an agreement that it will happily pass this motion, allow for two public hearings and therefore the committee just undertakes its business in the normal course of events. Otherwise, we'll have to proceed through with the full suspension of standing orders and, in proceeding with the suspension of standing orders, then move through to ultimately pass the motion. We can never predict the will of the Senate, but I do point out to the government that on this particular issue the Senate has already made clear its will today that an inquiry be undertaken. My colleagues Senator Henderson, as the shadow education minister, and Senator O'Sullivan, who does such outstanding work on the employment and education committee, have engaged. They seek to simply ensure proper transparency, proper accountability of the government and a willingness to actually pursue these issues.

President, I don't wish to go over the substance of the bill that is before the committee. It's a substantial bill. It has a number of significant issues for the parliament to consider before the passage of that bill. It's why the Senate agreed that an inquiry into the bill should be undertaken. And if we're to have an inquiry it ought to be a proper inquiry. And frankly it's quite outrageous that those opposite, who just guillotined consideration of a significant budget policy, and they did so in the most extraordinary of circumstances, using the most extraordinary of precedents to have one of their own Labor senators move a motion to disallow one of their own government policies but then to have her not vote for the motion she moved herself—it was certainly one of the more preposterous and extraordinary things I've seen in this chamber.

But here, President, we very much have the normal, ordinary workings of the Senate. And for a government that was elected making so many calls and promises about the transparency it would bring, the accountability it would bring, the respect to the parliament it would bring, its actions in relation to this inquiry to date show no accountability, no transparency and no respect for the Senate. There's a last-gasp chance that it could simply agree to this motion without the need for further debate and enable the committee to do its normal work and due diligence.