DOORSTOP PRESS CONFERENCE – PARLIAMENT HOUSE - EXTENDED PARLIAMENT SITTINGS

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

 

 

TRANSCRIPT

DOORSTOP PRESS CONFERENCE – PARLIAMENT HOUSE

1 DECEMBER 2022

E&OE

 

Subject/s: Extension of Parliamentary Sittings to Saturday instead of Friday

 

FLETCHER: I just want to make a quick comment about the way the Government is managing the House and the Senate in relation to bills that the Government says they want to have people ever before Parliament rises. On the he Last sitting day of the year, but of course we've had this announcement from the the Government. In the last few days that they're proposing to reconvene the House of Representatives on Saturday to pass legislation, in particular to deal with a bill that has been in the Senate and that will have some amendments and it would then need to have those amendments agreed to buy the house for this data to pass. That's the Labor’s extreme Industrial Relations Bill,  a week or a few days ago there was talking about the National Anti Corruption Commission legislation. Of course, it's been through the Senate. It's been through the Reps that's now passed, so the issue is the Labor extreme Industrial Relations Bill, quite remarkable that the Leader of the House informed the House really just a few minutes ago that the government is still proposing that the House be resumed at 9 o'clock on Saturday morning. Now this is a very wasteful and inefficient use of public resources. It's not unusual at the end of Parliamentary sitting years to have the Senate sitting late what is typically done is that the legislation when the when the legislation goes through the Senate that there's then a period of time required to deal with the amendments. And that comes back to the House. I've certainly been here when that's been done at 1:00 in the morning or three in the morning. Of course, a very efficient way to do this might be to do it tomorrow morning. Assuming it goes through the Senate later this evening, the idea that Members would leave and then come back, the extra cost in terms of airfares, Comcars, no doubt there will be payments required for staff who need to turn up here on this Saturday security, and others. It's a very wasteful and inefficient use of public resources. It's almost without precedent. This notion of the House of Representatives sitting on Saturday. The government should be dealing with this in the normal way these things are dealt with, which is that the Senate would take the time it needs past the amendments, to pass the bill, it then comes back to the House of Representatives. There's no reason at all why that couldn't be done either tonight or tomorrow morning. If, as seems likely while always reluctant to predict what will happen in the Senate, but if, as seems likely, the legislation goes to the Senate this evening. This idea that Members should be told to go away and come back on Saturday is inefficient, unnecessary and will lead to a waste of public resources.  

 

QUESTION: Do you think your comments are really going to resonate the Australian people who quite often have to work Saturdays and don't earn anywhere near as much as a politician. Do you think your comments are really going to resonate with them? 

 

FLETCHER: What this is about is the efficient use of public resources. For the parliamentarians who are not going to be here on Saturday, they'll have commitments in their electorate. They'll be working there at their electorate. The issue is that what's proposed is an unnecessarily, inefficient way of dealing with things, and there's a perfectly sensible way these things have been dealt with in the past. This is a wasteful, inefficient process the government is proposing and I hope that they end up changing their mind, taking a more sensible approach, we will have to wait and see. 

 

QUESTION: What responsibility do you take for the Coalition’s filibuster all through the Senate debate today and did you instruct Michaelia Cash that if we all wanted to get out of there on time, maybe you know the 19 amendments and many, many, many questions should have been cut a bit shorter. 

 

FLETCHER: No, no, we will take the time that is needed to debate this matter on its merits in the Senate, and that'll be a matter determined by our Senate leadership team. That's entirely appropriate as it should be. 

 

QUESTION: Have you asked Senator Cash for an indication of when the first set of amendments might pass. 

 

FLETCHER: These matters are in the hands of the Coalition Senate leadership team... 

 

QUESTION: But you haven't asked her? 

 

FLETCHER: Obviously we maintain a dialogue, but it's for members of the Senate leadership team to make those decisions to communicate them. The simple point I make is that the most efficient course for the government would be to be to have this matter turned around in the House of Representatives as quickly as possible, once it's concluded in the Senate, there's no good reason that the government has given as to why they're proposing that we wouldn't be here on Friday to deal with this matter, that would be the more efficient way to do it, so I think the government have got some questions to answer as to why they're proposing to deal with it in this way. 

 

QUESTION: You just said you have engagements on Saturday. What's more important in your electorate or wherever you may be than being in the Parliament and passing laws.

 

FLETCHER: Look, the reality is that parliamentarians, every parliamentarian, has a balance and mix of responsibilities serving in the Parliament and serving and being an events and doing other work in there. 

 

QUESTION: But what kind of event is more important? 

 

FLETCHER: All of this work is important, and what the government should have regard to is how this can be most efficiently managed. The government has not explained why it had this proposal to have the House sit on a Saturday and I call on the government to deal with this in the most efficient way. The most efficient use of public resources rather than, for example, calling the House of Representatives back on a Saturday, which will involve the additional and unnecessary public expense. 

 

QUESTION: But is it really that efficient to keep moving amendments that you know is not going to pass. 

 

FLETCHER: Well, the legislative process involves amendments being put and considered, and until an amendment has been moved, you do not know how it's going to be voted on. 

 

QUESTION: In Parliament, why not just stay here until Saturday? Why do you have to go home and then come back? 

 

FLETCHER: Well, the most efficient way would be to have, I agree with you. The most efficient way would be to have people stay here until this can come back to the House of Representatives and be dealt with, and the best way to facilitate that is to do what's been done in many previous years, which would be, for example, to have it dealt with later this evening. Depending upon what time it finishes in the Senate, and I've certainly been here as have many other parliamentarians at one or two or three in the morning, or indeed to do it tomorrow morning, so the government has carriage of these matters, but they need to explain why they're not seeking the most efficient way to get this done. 

 

QUESTION: Mr. Fletcher, at the rate the amendments are going, debates going on the amendments I mean they spent five hours this morning on the first set of 19 amendments. I mean that would indicate it might actually not even be to a final vote by Saturday. 

 

FLETCHER: Well, again, the point I make is that this needs to be done in the most efficient way, and if you're going to recall the House on a Saturday, that's a cumbersome and expensive process, the burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate why that's required, to date they have not succeeded. Thanks so much. 

 

ENDS 

Further information: Jack Abadee 0403 440 099