Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short five-minute statement.

Leave not granted.

Pursuant to contingent notice of motion standing in my name, I move:

That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent me from making a statement of no more than five minutes.

Colleagues, there it is—there's the new parliament. Watch it very, very carefully. This was a test for the government of whether they would work with us to put through a bill, the Defence Service Homes Amendment (Insurance) Bill, that is non-controversial and that we said this morning could happily go through the chamber. Instead, we had them playing around and talking for longer than it would have taken to put that particular bill through. Instead, what have they done? Exactly what we thought they would do. They've teamed up with the Australian Greens to do a dirty deal that avoids scrutiny on a bill that directly affects the mining industry in Australia and is going to have a direct impact on their productivity and their prosperity.

What I love, though, is this. We're heading towards, obviously, a federal election. Let's cast our minds back to what happened prior to the last election. Colleagues, do you remember the lectures on transparency? Do you remember the lectures on accountability? Do you remember the lectures on how 'if we are elected to govern'—amongst other things which they clearly haven't delivered—'there will be a new way of doing things in this chamber'? I have to say you got that part of what you said correct. Shame on you!

Colleagues, let's remind everybody listening in to this debate that such is this government's commitment to transparency and accountability that in just 2½ years, from September 2022 to February 2025—guess how many bills the government has guillotined? One hundred and ninety-eight. And guess what? An incredibly important bill that Senator Dean Smith wants to take through committee and ask serious questions on is now going to be guillotined through this place. I have to say I can't wait to find out what they got for the dirty deal. Seriously! How many cabinet positions? When I raised that today in my speech in the chamber, all I could hear from the Australian Greens was, 'Hear, hear!' to cabinet positions and, 'We'd like a few.' Let's start divvying it up. Which cabinet positions do the Australian Greens want in a minority government? They've been pretty upfront about it. I'll give the Greens credit. At least you are being upfront about the fact that, if you are in minority government with the Albanese Labor government, you will at least ask for cabinet positions. That is a good thing. I give you credit. You're being upfront about it.