Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

The government doesn't support the suspension for a reason that has been stated on many occasions, which is that we support the progress of legislation through this chamber and there is important legislation before this chamber right now. I note that the opposition has indicated their intention to vote for the suspension. That's disappointing. The opposition's stated position is that the Aged Care Bill on the Notice Paper ready for debate is their priority, yet their proposal at the moment is to support further delay rather than bringing on debate for this important piece of policy legislation.

However, may I indicate this also: we were not provided advance notice of the motion that's before us, and I note there are ordinary protocols within this chamber that allow matters to be discussed between senators before they are elevated in this way. So it is disappointing to have a motion put before the chamber without notice and without discussion in the way that has occurred this morning. I understand that Senator Lambie wrote yesterday to the President and that the President is preparing a response.

We were in opposition for quite some time, regrettably, as senators will understand, and we are really familiar with many of the issues that have been canvassed in the material before us. We are, as you are, incredibly grateful for the hard work, the diligence and the drafting capabilities that are present, and I think every senator in this place has had cause to be immensely grateful for the time and attention and support that we've received from that office.

However, the appropriate place to raise this is either through discussions informally or through referral to the Appropriations, Staffing and Security Committee, which is the entity which oversees the budget for the Senate. It is disappointing that the matter is instead being raised in this way without notice and without discussion. It suggests that the people who are seeking to resolve it are not, in fact, seeking to truly resolve it but actually seeking to escalate a conflict when a better and more effective way of doing it would be through conversation.

As I indicated, we don't support the suspension. I've made some remarks about the substantive motion as well. I move:

That the question be now put.

Question agreed to.