Senator FAULKNER (Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (3:08 PM) —I move:

Senator Ray asked a very important question in question time today about the proposal that was announced recently by the Prime Minister in relation to the Senate's powers. Personally, I am pleased that the Prime Minister has raised the issue of Senate powers and the role of the Senate. It is an important debate for us to have. I also believe that as far as the Labor Party are concerned, particularly when we have found ourselves in opposition, we can say with absolute certainty that the Labor Party have always acted with responsibility in the Senate chamber. The Labor Party have never debauched the Senate processes. The Labor Party have never turned Senate inquiries into witch-hunts against public servants. The Labor Party have never denied the government a capacity to govern.

Of course, I think it is also fair to say that the current government, the Liberal Party, does not come to this debate with clean hands. Who can forget, as recently as 1993 in the first budget of the last parliament of the Keating government, when the then Liberal opposition, along with the support of the minor parties in the Senate, decided to gut the then Dawkins budget and refused to pass the six budget bills. I do not say that there is any purity here; I know that both Labor and non-Labor Senate oppositions have joined with the minor parties in blocking budget bills and non-budget bills. They have been amended and opposed by both sides of politics. But, of course, only the Liberals have brought a democratically elected government down by blocking supply. Perhaps Mr Howard has forgotten that sorry record. Perhaps Mr Howard has forgotten how the Liberal Party debauched the Constitution of Australia in 1975. Perhaps he has not forgotten. Perhaps the current representatives of the Liberal Party are just hypocritical in how they approach this issue.

I do not accept Mr Howard's comments at the Liberal Party convention that the Senate is not an effective house of review. I believe this chamber has evolved, particularly since the establishment of proportional representation as the voting system for the Senate after 1949, into a very effective house of review. But while Mr Howard has said that—and I would argue about it because I happen to think the accountability mechanisms of the Australian Senate are the best accountability mechanisms available in this Commonwealth parliament or, for that matter, any parliament in Australia—I do accept Mr Howard's view that we should look at the powers of the Senate, not some manipulation of the voting system which of course has been something pursued by his colleagues, particularly Senator Coonan, over recent years. I have never supported a proposal to rort or manipulate the electoral franchise of the Senate. So I do think that looking at powers is more important than manipulating a voting system, and I hope other senators would share that view.

Ultimately, if you look at powers, it becomes a matter for the Australian people—that is one of the strengths. They would have the final say on the shape of any changes to our Constitution but, in doing so, the important issue raised by the opposition in question time in the Senate today has to be given due consideration: how do you protect and defend those very important legislative constraints and accountability mechanisms on government? That is an essential task here and we look forward to seeing how the Prime Minister and the government plan to address those issues.