Nick Minchin

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

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I totally reject the baseless claims made by the Rudd Government that the Coalition is being obstructionist in the Senate.

The facts show that in 2009 the Government got almost 80 per cent of its legislation passed.

It’s a bit rich of Labor to make this claim, when it voted consistently against just about every major economic reform that the previous Coalition Government put up over 11½ years.

Labor also opposed virtually every savings measure we put up to get rid of Paul Keating’s $96 billion debt. After more than two years in office Labor still has not learnt how to deal with the Senate. It does not know how to work with the Senate to build consensus for its legislation.

This is in stark contrast to the Howard Government which worked assiduously to gain cross bench support for its legislative program despite Labor’s sustained opposition to it.

Despite the Coalition’s considerable assistance the Rudd Government has still failed dismally to manage its own program which is a further sign of its incompetence.

The Coalition in the Senate treats Labor’s legislation on its merits. We only oppose those items that in our view are contrary to the national interest, and represent bad policy.

It should be noted that for most of the Labor Party’s history it has been part of its platform to abolish the Senate altogether, so perhaps that remains its true agenda.

Instead of treating the Senate with contempt Labor should treat it as part of our healthy democratic process.

The fact this Government has presided over the lowest number of sitting days in a non-election year since 1952 is symbolic of its mismanagement. The Senate is a vital part of our Parliamentary system and it serves effectively as a proper house of review.