Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance and the Public Service, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (16:10): I seek leave to make a short statement. The PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute. Senator CORMANN: I actually agree with Senator Wong; we should move immediately to deal with the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018, which is a very important piece of national-security-related legislation. If the opposition are indicating through Senator Wong that they want to bring that debate on immediately then the government is happy to facilitate such a motion. Of course, what has happened is that there was a bipartisan agreement in relation to the amendments to the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill, and the amendments agreed between the government and the opposition were passed by the House of Representatives. Clearly, the Labor Party wants to play tactical games in order to enable Mr Shorten to put our offshore protection arrangements at risk. So, in order to facilitate Mr Shorten playing tactical games, the Labor Party tried to gazump the government's legislative agenda in this chamber. The Labor Party, the opposition, has actually sought to bring on government legislation where the government is saying that it needs more time for it to be considered. How often has that happened before? So don't tell us about games. If you're genuinely interested in national security, let's adjourn the debate on the home affairs bill now. I will support a motion to adjourn the debate on the home affairs bill now to bring on the bill in relation to the other matters immediately. Senator O'Neill: You guys should stay here and do the work you're paid to do! Senator CORMANN: This is it! They're literally just playing games! If the encryption bill is not passed by the Senate and those powers are not in place for intelligence and law enforcement agencies, it is on the Labor Party's head. The legislation was passed through the House of Representatives and it's 100 per cent consistent with what was agreed through the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. If you are moving any amendments to that bill, it is only to frustrate the efficient passage of that bill and it is only to frustrate that bill becoming law so that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies can have the powers they need. If you're serious and you want to deal with the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018, I suggest that you support a motion that I am prepared to move to adjourn debate on the home affairs amendment bill and we can move on to it immediately. I won't do it, because I don't want to waste any more time. I was sitting here, quite happy to move through the divisions, but I'm mindful that we do have to deal with the hours motion before 4.30. So if the opposition is not prepared to facilitate efficient passage of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 through the Senate then it is on the Labor Party's head, and the Australian people will know that the Labor Party is deliberately standing in the way of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies having the powers they need.