Senator ABETZ (Tasmania—Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Employment) (14:00): I seek leave to move: That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent me moving a motion to provide for the consideration of a matter, namely a motion to give precedence to a motion to vary the hours of meeting and routine of business for today. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order on both sides! Senator Abetz has sought leave to move a motion. Is leave granted? Leave not granted. Senator ABETZ: Pursuant to contingent notice, I move: That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent me moving a motion to provide for the consideration of a matter, namely a motion to give precedence to a motion to vary the hours of meeting and routine of business for today. The Australian people rightly expect the Senate to deal— Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Abetz, please resume your seat. On both sides, it is no use arguing across the chamber. Senator ABETZ: The Australian people rightly expect the Senate to deal with the urgent legislation before us. The ALP-Greens tactic of stalling, spoiling and outright sabotaging the government's legislative agenda is an abuse, the likes of which this chamber has not previously witnessed. The legislation the government seeks to have passed on behalf of the Australian people is legislation for which the Australian people voted: repeal of the job-destroying and household-budget-blowing carbon tax, a carbon tax that is killing the manufacturing sector of this country and blowing a $550 hole in household budgets. We also seek the repeal of the mining tax, which is stifling investment and jobs growth. With today's announcement that unemployment is at 5.8 per cent, the need to implement the coalition plan to reboot the economy and clean up Labor's mess is more urgent than ever. Vital legislation for which we have a mandate, like for the ABCC and the Registered Organisations Commission, is being deferred to committees that do not even deal with legislation by the ALP-Greens alliance, to dates well into next year, such is their sabotage. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Abetz, you should resume your seat, because you are entitled to be heard in silence—on both sides. Senator Abetz. Senator ABETZ: The carbon tax, which is so bad that Labor promised we would not have one in 2010 and so bad that they said they would abolish it in 2013, is being kept alive by that very same Labor Party's tactics in this chamber. Those opposite know that Mr Rudd and Mr Marles were right—that the right thing to do is to repeal the carbon tax. But they cannot acknowledge the will of the Australian people. For this chamber to break for Christmas without resolving vital legislation, which includes budget savings to staunch the haemorrhaging budget we inherited from Labor—savings that we bravely and honestly put to the Australian people before the election and which the people of Australia voted for. And do you know why they voted for it? Because they knew $732 million would need to be borrowed from overseas which the next generation would need to pay back, with interest. That is why they voted for us. Here we have Labor stifling, stalling and sabotaging our savings measures, some of which they themselves put forward during the last election. The savings measures are vital. The Labor-Greens games in this place are the metaphorical middle-finger salute to the Australian people and to Australian democracy. Let us be perfectly clear— Senator Conroy: Do not mention Holden, whatever you do! Waste time so we do not have to talk about Holden! Seriously! Senator ABETZ: I have heard some of the interjections from the other side. I can indicate that we will have a full one hour of question time, and you can ask every question you like in relation to the situation at Holden. But it is vital that this legislation be passed. So let us be very clear: every single measure on which we seek the Senate's concurrence—and, if not concurrence, then at least a vote—was fully and clearly articulated by us well before the election. Indeed, the Greens campaigned against all these measures and their vote collapsed by one third. The Labor Party campaigned against these measures and were defeated, despite the fact that they actually did support some of these measures—including the abolition of the carbon tax. So, bizarrely, the Labor Party that actually supported some of these measures is now using the tactics of spoiling, stalling and sabotaging to ensure that the policies they took to the election will not be passed and carried or determined by this chamber. The Australian people have a right to expect that the very clear policies of a government should be considered and, as a minimum, voted on by this Senate. We say to those opposite: we will sit here until Christmas to have these matters determined because they are so vitally important and so vital for the national interest—issues on which we campaigned and won. (Time expired)