David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say this, as someone who is new to this place: it's Thursday afternoon and we haven't got through any legislation this week. It's been incredibly frustrating. We're not living up to what Australians want from their elected representatives, which is to debate the issues. We've had months on the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill. I would urge both Labor and the Greens to work together to come to some sort of agreement that will benefit people who desperately need housing.

It's easy for me—I can ride into work—but people in the Senate fly from all over the country. Our time here is valuable. I would urge senators to make use of that valuable time. We next sit in June, and we're kicking all the stuff down the road to deal with it then. I would urge the Greens and Labor to do what Australians expect the Senate to do. It's where the government does not have a majority. It may claim mandates on certain things, but every elected representative here, whether an Independent or from the coalition or the minor parties, has their own mandate. That's what the Senate is about. We work to shape policy and legislation so that it reflects what Australians want.

It's incredibly frustrating that, after three days, we haven't done much, other than procedural matters and slinging mud at each other. We can do better. Over the next two hours, I hope that we can come to some agreement on the HAFF. If not, we can deal with it when we come back in June.