Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Ellison, I move:

That, on Tuesday, 20 March 2007:

(a)

the hours of meeting shall be 12.30 pm to 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm to adjournment;

(b)

the routine of business from 7.30 pm shall be government business only; and

(c)

the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 10 pm.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Greens oppose this motion. Again, this is the government manipulating the Senate, because it has the numbers, while running the Senate for the least number of sitting days for decades, to extend the hours so that legislation can be pushed through but the government can escape the scrutiny which the Senate has been so good at before the government got the majority. This is using the majority to abuse the role of the Senate in reviewing what the government does and to extensively inquire into the legislation and other matters it brings before the Senate. We can do very little about it. It is an abuse of the Senate in the interests of a government that does not want to be scrutinised as it should be, and the Greens will oppose this motion.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a strange argument we have heard: the government is abusing its numbers in the Senate by extending the hours, so that hon-ourable senators can have more time to consider the bills and the legislation before it. Surely the argument would be that we were abusing our numbers in the Senate if we said, ‘We have the numbers and therefore we will force the legislation through without any concern for opposition and minor party sena-tors.’ The fact that we are willing to extend the time for the Senate to sit—so that honourable senators can spend more time considering legislation—is, I would have thought, proof positive that Senator Bob Brown’s assertion is unsupportable.

This government has been a reformist government. It has a full agenda. Yes, there is a lot of legislation to go through and, whilst those on the other side often say that the government has run out of puff, it is interesting to know that they then complain when we have so much legislation, so many reforms and changes that we seek to submit to this place to make Australia an even better place. On behalf of the government, I have moved the motion to give honourable senators extra time to consider the government’s legislative program.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That government business notice of motion No. 2 standing in the name of the Minister for Human Services, (Senator Ellison) for today, relating to consideration of legislation, be postponed till the next day of sitting.

Question agreed to.