Senator SINGH (Tasmania) (18:00): I rise to speak to this suspension motion. Following on from Senator Ludwig's comments in relation to the fact that the Senate did agree to a motion under standing order 113, it does surprise me about the need to suspend yet again. It is, indeed, farcical. We know already that the government has filed for tomorrow a notice of motion to bring on the debate of the carbon tax repeal package of bills, so why this is happening now is certainly of a farcical nature. It is about scoring a political point and nothing more than that. What is disappointing, though, is the fact that the process of Senate committee inquiry, of Senate committee public hearings and of listening to evidence from experts in the field, has not been able to occur. It has not been able to occur because government senators did not want it to occur; they wanted to silence the voices of experts and scientists in this field. That has been the approach, unfortunately, of this government across a range of portfolio areas—to silence the voices and not have those voices heard because it does not want to hear the answers. That is what has happened in relation to these bills that were before a Senate committee. There was a call by opposition senators for there to be public hearings and an inquiry. That is the nature of Senate committees—to have inquiries into legislation. Yet that has not been granted by those government senators because they did not want to hear from climate experts. They did not want to hear from economists who do not regard the repeal of these bills and having no price on carbon pollution—having no legal cap on carbon pollution—as the right way to go. Instead, what we have is this farcical situation where we now find ourselves debating this suspension motion all in the name of the government trying to gain a political point—not a substantive point, a political point—in relation to the coming together of the new Senate today. It is a shame because the reason the government is bringing on the suspension motion is something that is fundamentally important to this nation. It something that I joined with my Senate colleagues on this side and some from the Greens this morning to support outside Parliament House with so many young Australians. There were some 200 young Australians who care deeply about Australia's future actions when it comes to climate change, who want to see this parliament take action on climate change, who support an emissions trading scheme, who know what is going on across the globe in relation to legal caps on carbon pollution and who also know that the direction that this government is taking by removing a legal cap on carbon pollution, which is what a substantive component of the government's repeal legislation does, is a backward step for our nation. It puts us leaps and bounds behind so many other developed and developing nations across the globe and is not the way that they want to see their future as young Australians. They were calling on all of us to take action. That is what Labor is all about. It is about taking action on climate change. It is something we did when we were in government; it is something we still aim to do when next in government and also while we are in opposition. We aim to hold this government to account on something that is a fundamental part of our future as a nation—in fact, our future as a planet. Introducing an emissions trading scheme has the support of economists, scientists and all the experts that have been silenced through the Senate committee process because government senators did not want to hear from them because it did not fit with the political point-scoring that they are now attempting. That is shameful. (Time expired)