MOTIONS

Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia—Manager of Australian Greens Business in the Senate) (16:30): I seek leave to make a short statement. Leave granted. Senator HANSON-YOUNG: Obviously we understand why Senator Payman is putting forward this motion.

We also understand that this motion will not pass the chamber today. We obviously do have a problem, however, with how we are managing OPDs in this chamber—not just the number, the frequency and whether there are other mechanisms, but how well the government is complying with them and the sanctions that should be levelled at a government and at a minister who refuses to give information that the Senate has asked for.

I foreshadow that, given the discussion about this today, we will move a reference to the Senate Standing Committee on Procedure to work on this issue, and I look forward to people across the chamber supporting that, because we can't keep having this ridiculous fight every time the Senate seeks information that the public deserve. Question negatived.