Turnbull accused of ‘running scared’ after sitting of Parliament delayed
AUSTRALIA: The Turnbull government has taken the unusual step of delaying a parliamentary sitting, citing the need to pass same-sex marriage laws and deal with the citizenship fiasco.
Labor and the Greens immediately accused the government of ‘‘running scared’’ from the potentially embarrassing scenario of lower house Nationals MPs crossing the floor to team up with Labor, the Greens and the crossbench and force the creation of a commission of inquiry into Australia’s banking system.
Leader of the House Christopher Pyne dismissed that suggestion as he announced the lower house will now not meet until December 4, rather than November 27.
The Senate will still meet in the week beginning November 27, with debate on same-sex marriage laws – including amendments designed to strengthen religious protections – set to dominate proceedings until November 30.
The move to delay sittings means lower house MPs will now have until 8pm on Tuesday, December 5 – rather than the previously agreed December 1, which still applies for the Senate – to make disclosures about their citizenship status.
The push to establish a commission of inquiry – which is all but certain to pass the Senate and is being led by Nationals senator Barry O’Sullivan – looks increasingly likely to succeed in the lower house as well, with several Nationals MPs signalling they could cross the floor and deliver the numbers to suspend standing orders and bring on debate.
It comes as the Turnbull government is in minority government, holding just 73 seats on the floor of the lower house, because former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and backbench MP John Alexander are campaigning to win back their NSW seats of New England and Bennelong respectively.
But Pyne said a one-week sitting delay would not affect the government’s numbers in the House because ‘‘neither John Alexander nor Barnaby Joyce would be back in the House’’ from December 4.
Asked about the prospect of O’Sullivan’s bill succeeding in the lower house too, Pyne said the government ‘‘won’t be listing other bills, but anyone who wishes to change the agenda, if they have 76 votes [and] that they can achieve a suspension of standing orders, well that motion is open to them to move’’.
He predicted most of the amendments to Senator Dean Smith’s same-sex marriage bill would be dealt with in the Senate but there would be ample time to debate any amendments to the marriage bill in the lower house from December 4, if necessary.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said ‘‘Turnbull is running scared from the Parliament. If you can’t run the Parliament, you can’t run the country’’. – Fairfax