Extract from The Guardian
Labor and crossbench refuse to allow upper house to discuss bill as Greens come under intense pressure to stall it
Labor and the Senate crossbench are refusing to allow the upper house
to debate laws bringing in proposed new voting rules in an attempt to
deny the government the chance to call a July double dissolution
election.
The Greens back the Senate changes, which ban the backroom deals that have seen micro-parties elected on a tiny number of votes, but have also come under intense pressure to stall them to prevent the government from calling a double dissolution poll straight after its May budget.
It is understood the Greens are considering some additional changes to the bill, including optional preferential voting “below the line” – but it is not clear whether they will back a crossbench plan to impose a “start date” for the laws in August, after the last possible date for calling a double dissolution.
The independent senator Nick Xenophon has said he will try to amend the bill in the Senate to introduce optional preferential voting below the line instead of requiring voters to place a number beside every candidate’s name.
“Having 12 below the line would help remove the illogical asymmetry that exists in the government’s bill,” he said.
The Greens spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon said Tuesday’s inquiry into the voting bill “established a water-tight case of why we need optional preferential voting below the line” and the Greens would support the amendment.
“We support voters being required to number at least 12 boxes,” she said. “Witnesses at today’s hearing and many of the 100-plus submissions have set out a clear case for this reform and we support it being included in the legislation.”
But tempers frayed in the Senate on Tuesday night as Labor and the crossbench continued to refuse to allow the upper house to debate the Senate voting bill, or any other bills, with only five sitting days until parliament is scheduled to rise for the long winter break.
Senator Penny Wong said Labor was opposing the move by the Coalition and the Greens to push the senate reform bill through the parliament on the grounds it was not good for Australian democracy.
“We do not believe that legislation that imposes the largest changes in three decades on this parliament on the Australian people for an election should be rushed through just because the government wants to rush to a double dissolution election with the assistance of the Greens,” said an obviously angry Wong.
She said the ABC psephologist, Antony Green, had told the inquiry by the joint standing committee on electoral matters the most likely outcome of the proposal was a “blocking majority” for the Coalition.
“In years to come if this legislation comes through and the Coalition imposes its radical rightwing agenda on the Australian people, we will be blaming you [the Greens] … because you have come in here with your piety and have lain in bed with the government on this issue and all of us will remember it,” Wong said.
The Senate returns on 10 May for the budget and the government would have to call a double dissolution election on 11 May.
Tom Rodgers, from the Australian Electoral Commission, said he would need three months to implement the laws before an election was held.
The Family First Senator Bob Day has proposed at a minimum that the Greens amend the legislation to include a start date of 22 August. Labor would back the move and so do the other crossbenchers, leaving its fate in the hands of the Greens.
The Greens back the Senate changes, which ban the backroom deals that have seen micro-parties elected on a tiny number of votes, but have also come under intense pressure to stall them to prevent the government from calling a double dissolution poll straight after its May budget.
It is understood the Greens are considering some additional changes to the bill, including optional preferential voting “below the line” – but it is not clear whether they will back a crossbench plan to impose a “start date” for the laws in August, after the last possible date for calling a double dissolution.
The independent senator Nick Xenophon has said he will try to amend the bill in the Senate to introduce optional preferential voting below the line instead of requiring voters to place a number beside every candidate’s name.
“Having 12 below the line would help remove the illogical asymmetry that exists in the government’s bill,” he said.
The Greens spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon said Tuesday’s inquiry into the voting bill “established a water-tight case of why we need optional preferential voting below the line” and the Greens would support the amendment.
“We support voters being required to number at least 12 boxes,” she said. “Witnesses at today’s hearing and many of the 100-plus submissions have set out a clear case for this reform and we support it being included in the legislation.”
But tempers frayed in the Senate on Tuesday night as Labor and the crossbench continued to refuse to allow the upper house to debate the Senate voting bill, or any other bills, with only five sitting days until parliament is scheduled to rise for the long winter break.
Senator Penny Wong said Labor was opposing the move by the Coalition and the Greens to push the senate reform bill through the parliament on the grounds it was not good for Australian democracy.
“We do not believe that legislation that imposes the largest changes in three decades on this parliament on the Australian people for an election should be rushed through just because the government wants to rush to a double dissolution election with the assistance of the Greens,” said an obviously angry Wong.
She said the ABC psephologist, Antony Green, had told the inquiry by the joint standing committee on electoral matters the most likely outcome of the proposal was a “blocking majority” for the Coalition.
“In years to come if this legislation comes through and the Coalition imposes its radical rightwing agenda on the Australian people, we will be blaming you [the Greens] … because you have come in here with your piety and have lain in bed with the government on this issue and all of us will remember it,” Wong said.
The Senate returns on 10 May for the budget and the government would have to call a double dissolution election on 11 May.
Tom Rodgers, from the Australian Electoral Commission, said he would need three months to implement the laws before an election was held.
The Family First Senator Bob Day has proposed at a minimum that the Greens amend the legislation to include a start date of 22 August. Labor would back the move and so do the other crossbenchers, leaving its fate in the hands of the Greens.
No comments:
Post a Comment