ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT - MOTIONS - Parliamentary Procedure

I second the motion. We know that standing and sessional orders do need to be suspended because, as the member for Fairfax states, this House has to reaffirm the importance of a proper and comprehensive consideration by this House—the people's house, the house of what used to be democracy—of legislation dealing with matters of importance to Australians. If ever there were a matter of importance to Australians, it is this matter.

The Labor government has form when it comes to gagging debate. Indeed, last year, for the first time since I was elected in 2010, they gagged the appropriation bills of all bills to gag. Just recently, in the last sitting week of the Senate, they gagged our senators from speaking about the digital identity bill in the upper house. Now here today, they have gagged the fuel efficiency standard debates. There was a long list of speakers who wanted to speak about the importance of this legislation for and on behalf of their constituents. Many of those members are regional members who will hurt the most from this tax on family cars and utes.

But those opposite don't care about families and farmers. They do not care about families, which are in Struggle Street at the moment. They do not need another Labor tax to impose upon their livelihoods, upon their day-to-day budgets. I appreciate that the member for Rankin stood at that dispatch box the other night and delivered his budget speech, but the important budgets that are being done are around the family living room tables. They are the ones that are being done by families that are struggling to pay for groceries, struggling to pay every time they go to the bowser at the petrol station. Under this, they're going to be struggling even more. They are hurting so much, and that is why the suspension is so important. That is why Labor has to finally concede that, before it came to power, it said: 'Let the sun shine in. Let there be more transparency.' Yet they are gagging debate again and again. This is simply not good enough.

And they're doing it in collaboration with, for and on behalf of the teals. They are a party; let's make no mistake. They're also doing it on behalf of the Greens.

Opposition members interjecting—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Dr Freelander ): We don't need the echo. Order.

Mr McCORMACK: They are here and they are helping. They've all been denied speaking on this important debate. Every one of my colleagues behind me are very concerned, very worried and very upset that they weren't allowed to speak about the fuel efficiency standards. We saw the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government come to the dispatch box and talk about how much this is going to mean for the regions. She has absolutely no idea. This is the same minister who has absolutely cut, stalled, delayed or, indeed, taken away all of the regional infrastructure, all of the roads infrastructure—so much so that even in the Courier Mail yesterday the columnist was talking about how much easier it was to deal with the coalition when it came to infrastructure. That's from Palaszczuk government insiders.

Here we have a government that feels the need to not only gag debate but then ram through this unnecessary legislation. The ones who will be hurting the most are our farmers. The ones who will be hurting the most are our rural and regional families and, indeed, those in remote areas. I appreciate that the Minister for Climate Change and Energy says that this is necessary. I appreciate that he says that this is going to lead to reduced emissions. I appreciate that he says this is going to lead us closer to net zero. But it's all poppycock. It absolutely is. He knows it.

What we've seen today is a denial of democracy. What we've seen today is the Labor government denying people from the coalition, members who are sent here by their constituents—by their rural and regional constituents in particular—to speak on this debate, and they have not been given or afforded the opportunity to do so. This is a shameful day for this parliament. In 14 years I have never seen this sort of behaviour by those opposite, who promised more, who promised better when they came to power. That is why the suspension is so necessary. This is another tax on families. This is another tax on farmers. This is another tax on the regions. It is so unnecessary from those opposite, who should have known better, who promised better and who have broken yet another promise to the Australian people.