I’ve never seen this before. The govt voted against one of its own ministers speaking. We just had the votes on Labor’s amendments to the National Redress Scheme. @LindaBurneyMP moved amndts on issues like making sure payments were made before people died. #auspol #Parliament

I noticed the govt was voting against the amndts without giving any speech explaining why. At the start of the week the PM had tabled a list of who represented ministers in the other chamber. Whoever it was should be giving reasons for them voting “no”.
#auspol #Parliament

The list said the minister meant to be explaining the govt position was Stuart Robert.
So @RobMitchellMP made a speech stating he should at least have the respect on this issue to explain their reasons. But again, they just voted “no”.
#auspol #Parliament

So I moved that Stuart Robert be heard. This would have made him the next speaker. And the govt voted “no”. Even Stuart Robert voted against Stuart Robert being heard.
Extraordinary. They are now gagging their own speeches too.
#auspol #Parliament