MORRISON SHUTS DOWN DEMOCRATIC DEBATE

Scott Morrison is obsessed with shutting down democratic debate and silencing his opponents, new figures confirm.

Data provided by the House of Representatives’ chamber research office highlight just how little time this Government spends governing and how much time it spends shutting down Labor.

There have been 538 votes in the House of Representatives since the start of the 46th Parliament in July 2019, the figures show.

Only 18 of those have related to passing Government legislation at the second reading stage but a staggering 233 have been gag motions to shut down non-Government speakers.

That means Government MPs have voted thirteen times more often to silence their political opponents than they have to actually make laws.

Mr Morrison is trashing the norms and conventions of the people’s house by silencing criticism and refusing to debate important issues. This has led to a marked decline in civility, accountability and competence in the running of the Parliament under this Government.

This isn’t about Opposition MPs. It’s about the millions of Australians who didn’t vote for Mr Morrison.

Those people deserve a voice in our Parliament but this is a Government that doesn’t want to hear any voices but its own. Their approach shows contempt for the Parliament and the public.

Labor calls on the Government to ditch these Trumpian tactics in 2021 and let Parliament – and Australian democracy – function as it was intended to.

THURSDAY, 28 JANUARY 2021