Friday, December 2, 2005The Australian Senate sits for an unusual extra day today, in order to finish considering amendments to the new industial relations legislation. An extended sitting of the Senate was held yesterday, December 1, considering these amendments.
The bill has been declared as urgent and as consequently a timetable for debate is set, so the bill would have either passed or not in its entirety today. Key senator Barnaby Joyce has expressed his support of the bill due to his influencing Government amendments dealing with public holidays. Non-Government senators expressed their concerns yesterday and today in regard to these amendments — Family First Party senator Stephen Fielding introduced amendment to try and complement the Government amendments, but the Government has expressed that they will not be supporting them as they do not contain “right to refuse” provisions.
The Senate had not finished debate on all the amendments in the nine page outline of business before 4.30 pm, the time set by the earlier guillotine, and the amendments were consequently put without debate. Non-Government members did not pursue divisions on all the amendments other than key ones. Ominously, during the following third reading debate, fierce thunderstorms had brought about the use of emergency power to the parliament with Opposition senator Penny Wong saying that “The lightsmay have just gone out in the Senate chamber, but theydo not go out on the labour movement!”. Persons in the gallery of the Senate were applauding to non-Government speeches, which brought about support from the Opposition and skepticism from Government senators saying that “no amount of guffaws from those who have been trundled in here today to stand up the back will change the fact that we have been re-elected four times by Australian working men and women.”
Due to Government numbers, the bill eventually passed the third reading debate.