Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I apologise to Senator O’Brien. The Greens have consistently proposed that the select committees, which were subject to a certain amount of abuse in the last year or two, be closed down, and we have been voting against the coalition. In this case, however, we made this decision about the implementation study, for which the Senate sought an order for production nearly two months ago now. The minister held that back until the very last minute, arguably to prevent the select committee from having the time to go through the assumptions, the costing and the models that have been produced. This deprived the select committee of the opportunity to test some of those assumptions.

As a result, the Australian Greens have consented to the opposition’s request to give the committee a little bit more time to investigate the implementation study. The government could have avoided that by laying that document on the table on the day that the Senate ordered it to be produced.