Penny Wong has unleashed on an “outrageous” senator as tensions boiled over in the upper house.
With extra hours to get through the mountain of legislation before the end of the parliamentary session year, Senate Question Time on Tuesday was more unruly than ever.
It was an uphill battle for Speaker Sue Lines to maintain control as senators shouted at each other across the aisle about anything and everything.
“We are not in a football match. We are in Senate question time. You have to shut up,” he yelled.
Of particular interest to the Coalition were comments from Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, in which she said she was “very confident” the $125 billion Victorian suburban rail loop was “suitable for investment “.
Senator McKenzie addressed the issue on Tuesday, asking the government’s Senate Leader Penny Wong about what assessment the government had made before reaching this conclusion.
“On what basis of rigorous assessment, other than its own confidence, did the government approve $2.2 billion in budget funding for the suburban rail loop project?” she asked.
“I remember how hard we all tried to campaign for the state election in this chamber and I’m not sure if any of us were very successful,” Senator Wong replied.
But the Coalition senator’s repeated interjections prompted Senator Wong to launch her own counter-offensive.
“You’re in a permanent state of outrage, aren’t you? It’s never light and dark with this particular senator. We’re always up there, aren’t we,” she replied.
“It’s interesting to get a question about business cases … from a (former) minister who never demonstrated that during her time in government. The public record speaks for itself.”
After receiving a paper from colleague Don Farrell, Senator Wong added the government was “delivering on an election commitment”, but noted it would be subject to an assessment by Infrastructure Australia.
Meanwhile, Senators McKenzie and David Van drew the president’s ire by repeatedly referring to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews as “President Dan”.
“I ask you to refer to people by their correct titles,” she said before asking Senator McKenzie to withdraw her comment.
“You know the rules,” joked Greens senator Lidia Thorpe, who caused a stir earlier this year for her comments in the chamber about the Queen, in a moment of self-awareness.
About halfway through question time, New Zealand’s parliamentary delegation had either had enough, or had something better to do, packing up the public chamber and moving on.
You can almost hear the senators counting down to the end of the parliamentary sitting calendar.
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