The Tasmanian Parliament should sit for an additional week from 24-26 November inclusive in order to properly consider the massive legislative agenda which Labor is trying to ram through in the four remaining sitting days.
It is not acceptable the critical legislation such as the Integrity Commission is rammed through the Parliament at 2.30am in the morning, and only five days after it has first been sighted.
Nine Government bills were introduced to the House yesterday alone, and another one today.
When will there be adequate time to ensure these, and the significant number of others on the Notice Paper, are properly debated?
Legislation should be properly considered, not ploughed through purely because the Government has the numbers.
We will sit as long and as often as is required to adequately deal with the legislative agenda.
An extra three sitting days would help allow proper examination of proposed laws which affect all people in Tasmania, particularly given that after the remaining four sitting days in the next few weeks, the Parliament won’t sit again before the election.
That the Premier today rejected our sensible proposal out of hand shows how arrogant and out of touch Labor is.
Will Hodgman MP Leader of the State Opposition
