Opposition ripping the govt a new one on their inconsistencies on the Pandemic Bill. First it was urgent, then time was 'needed to consult', then next minute it's urgent again even though the other MPs have barely had 12 hours to see the amendments they're meant to debate today.
They're rushing this so much that the basic run sheet for the debate hasn't even been finished & circulated before the debate starts. Symes tries to defend this, says they can start at clause 1 & maybe if still not done after that they can look at a minor delay. Sloppy & chaotic.
You can see why Shing has been tagged as a preselection favourite for the next election. Their favourite narky little attack dog.
Melinda Bath opens with "hypocrisy thy name is Labor". Lol. Succinct.
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Pandemic Bill officially kicks off. Comments below.
This stage kicks off with no running sheet, which is unusual. Davis makes a point of this, as well as the continual lack of wider consulatation in the community (again).
Davis listing off all the people in the community who have been affected, and will be affected, by these new powers who have not had the chance to speak and be heard. Wants a proper Parliamentary enquiry into the bill.
Been waiting to see if there's a standard evening Herald Sun leak from the govt about news of a deal.
With nothing so far & also no leaks from any MPs saying they've been sent new amendments (would have to happen) it's looking like debate won't resume tomorrow it'll be Thursday.
It is however technically still scheduled for tomorrow but this is never set in stone & can easily just change in the morning. This is where Bernie's comments come from (I assume) as the govt doubled down on this schedule at a briefing this evening which was a bit odd.
Why are they trying to close the borders again? If it's seeded globally already (most likely) you'll achieve nothing anyway & even if it hasn't - what are you achieving, exactly? What you'll keep them locked until there's a new vx? Or until when?
'We just need time for more info' ok how much time? What'll make that end? How many times within that time are politicians going to move the goalposts? This started with '2 weeks to flatten the curve'. Very few people are stupid enough to buy a line like that again at this point.
To the inevitable screeching "are you saying let it rip?!" the question has to be asked, are you saying to start again from zero? Seriously, are you? What do you want here? How much suffering in every other area of life do you not care about if it means you can feed that fear?
Today we heard the govt & crossbenchers were having a 'meeting'. Turns out this was just advisors from Foley & the Premier's office allocating 30mins for a meeting on a Friday afternoon with 11 crossbenchers & many of their staff. Seems like it's going to be productive, right?
Needless to say the most productive thing achieved was the govt can now tick a box saying they'd 'spoken to the crossbenchers'. Problem is all they spoke about was the original version of the bill & the govts own amendments - nobody elses.
As mentioned the bill needs to be killed in its current form but all MPs agree they don't want this govt reaching for the SOE again anytime soon. Something needs to exist that has hard limits on powers & much better Parl oversight. So the hunger games of the crossbench commences.
What Adem did was ensure the govt needs another vote, without giving them an inch as to who that would be. A situation made worse by the govt having told the entire crossbench just days before "boo hoo losers your concerns don't matter, bye". That humble pie was an epic serve.