💧DUKE Clyde (HANSARD)CFW9 (Biden-Harris ELECT)💧 · @nobby15
23rd Jul 2019 from TwitLonger
Penny Wong delivered this spray to the government in the Senate
Not a total surprise, given the first week was mostly taken up with pomp and ceremony, but the Senate sort of ran out of legislation to debate last night.
Penny Wong’s eyebrows were at peak Penny Wong as she delivered this spray to the government in the Senate just before 8.30pm:
It’s the Monday of this sitting week, and we have the government saying, ‘Guess what? We have run out of legislation in the Senate. We want to go to the address-in-reply.’ The same old tried and true delaying tactic that governments use when they have to fill Senate chamber time. They’ve already gone to that at 8.25pm on the Monday night of the sitting week. What is the government’s agenda? Where is the government’s agenda? The government doesn’t have an agenda for the Senate. Do you know why? Because you’ve just spent the day in the House of Representatives trying to gain a wedge on the Labor party to abolish the Building Australia Fund because you want to talk about drought.
You’ve had a situation where the prime minister is so focused on playing politics that he hasn’t even wanted to allow the shadow cabinet to meet to determine a position. He hasn’t wanted to allow the caucus to meet to determine a position. He’s so desperate to make sure he gets a political wedge up, and you come in here and, so embarrassingly, don’t have any legislation for the Senate that you have to go to the address-in-reply at 8.25pm on the Monday night of a sitting week. What are we all doing? We’re all sitting here waiting for Mr Morrison to get the votes through the House of Representatives, which he hasn’t got as yet, on legislation to abolish the Building Australia Fund because he wants to try and wedge the Labor party on drought.
If you ever wanted an example of a government that doesn’t have an agenda, you have it now. You have it with senator Ruston sitting here saying, ‘You do what you want, senator Wong, because we don’t have any legislation. I’ve got an address-in-reply I want to get in. That’s what I want to do because I want delay tactics, as the government manager, as long as possible.’
Here is senator Cormann. He’s coming in to make up an agenda. You’re on to the address-in-reply at 8.25 on a Monday night because you haven’t got any legislation. I say the Senate should adjourn until you’ve got an agenda to debate.
The reason you haven’t got an agenda today is because you’ve been so focused on playing politics in the lower house and you haven’t got any legislation through. You could have put legislation through the lower house today. But you haven’t. Instead you’ve chosen to delay because you want a political debate on the Building Australia Fund abolition. That is entirely what is occurring.”