Senator FIFIELD (Victoria—Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Assistant Minister for Social Services) (17:40): At the request of the Leader of the Government in the Senate (Senator Abetz) and pursuant to contingent notice, Senator Abetz, I move: That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent Senator Abetz moving a motion to provide for the consideration of a matter, namely a motion to give precedence to a motion relating to the consideration of the Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013 [No. 2] and related bills, and the Climate Change Authority (Abolition) Bill 2013 [No. 2]. There is a sense of deja vu here tonight. It seems that the opposition and the Australian Greens combine together to thwart every opportunity the government seeks to afford the chamber to commence debate on the package of legislation that seeks to repeal the carbon tax. Earlier today Senator Abetz, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, sought leave to move a similar motion. Leave was denied. Senator Abetz then sought to suspend the standing orders in order to be able to move the motion which the denied leave prevented him from doing. The purpose of the government here is in no way nefarious. It is simply, at long last—more than nine months after the last federal election—to give effect to the will of the Australian people in this Senate chamber. All we are seeking to do with this procedural motion is to allow a substantive motion to be moved to facilitate the bringing on of the debate on the package of carbon tax repeal legislation. I would have thought that was the single most uncontroversial thing that this government could possibly do. Is it not enough that the Australian people spoke through the ballot box? They made clear their desire for the carbon tax to be repealed. Is it not enough that the Australian people comprehensively repudiated the broken promise of those opposite not to introduce a carbon tax? For those of us on this side of the chamber and for many crossbenchers that is enough. The will of the Australian people expressed through the ballot box is enough, but it is not for the Australian Greens and for the Australian Labor Party. They take every opportunity, by fair means and foul, to deny and delay this chamber considering the package of carbon tax repeal bills. We canvassed briefly earlier today the failure on a number of occasions of opposition senators to provide a quorum for the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, chaired by Senator Ruston. That is something you do not see every day in this place—senators consciously absenting themselves from committees of the parliament so that those committees cannot do their work. The committee were ready to report. They had concluded their work. They wanted to report and those opposite sought to deny them that opportunity. By seeking to suspend the standing orders we are again giving the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens the opportunity, at the very least, to say: 'We might not have liked the verdict of the Australian people. We did not like them voting us out of office. We did not like them repudiating our carbon tax. We are still going to vote to keep the carbon tax.' You would think, at the very least, they could bring themselves to support the facilitation of the debate. They say they want to have a comprehensive debate and they want to canvass the issues. Well, let the debate begin. Let it start in this place, let it start here, and let it start now. That would be the very least you would expect the Australian Labor Party to do. You might be a little more hopeful or optimistic—I know you are an optimist, Mr Acting Deputy President—and hope or think that the Australian Labor Party would go one step further and say: 'We've got the message from the Australian people. Not only will we vote to suspend standing orders to facilitate the bringing on of the debate but we have had a Damascus moment. We now recognise that we should change our position and vote to support the repeal of the carbon tax.' I am an optimist—a legislative optimist—and I guess, as Manager of Government Business in the Senate, you have to be, but that hope is probably a bridge too far at this stage. At the very least, the Australian Labor Party should support this motion, which seeks to suspend standing orders, so we can get on with the job of debating the carbon tax repeal legislation and get to a position where we can vote to repeal it.