STATEMENTS

Senator DUNIAM (Tasmania—Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) (16:33): I seek leave to make a short statement. The PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute. Senator DUNIAM: While the Senate has the opportunity to oppose the introduction of a bill or reject a bill at the first reading, in practice, the first reading or the introduction is almost always passed without opposition and is regarded as a purely formal stage.

The coalition supports these normal procedures, as we have with many other Greens, Labor and other crossbench bills that we've had opposition to in substance. The normal process enables bills to be fairly considered and debated by the Senate before substantive decisions are taken. It should only be deviated from in the most extreme of circumstances, lest we deny the right of senators to even have matters debated.

In all cases, a vote on the first reading should not be taken as a position on the substantive legislation, especially where a bill has not had the opportunity to be subject to a normal internal process.