EDITORIAL: Australians suffer in mad legislative scramble

Many of us love to complain about governments dragging their heels on important reform.

Bills that languish in committee stages for months or years. Inquiries that go nowhere. Reports put on shelves. Pledges that are made but are then quietly placed to the side in the hope no one brings them up again.

That’s not good governance.

But nor is the chaotic shambles that unfolded in Parliament this week.

The Government is crowing about its legislative “success” to end the year.

Thirty-one bills were rammed through Parliament at warp speed on Thursday, for a total of 45 for the sitting fortnight. To do so, the Government had to cut a deal with the Greens to “guillotine” debate on 27 of them.

That meant dozens of bills — including Reserve Bank reforms, the Government’s flagship Future Made in Australia legislation and changes to anti-money laundering laws — passed without being subject to the close debate that is part of the ordinary parliamentary process.

This is literally what we pay our politicians to do. They had all year to get this done through the proper channels, with the proper scrutiny. Instead, we get a half-arsed effort from a cohort of politicians eager to clear the decks before Christmas and an election in the new year.

Among the bills passed on Thursday’s frenetic hours of sitting was the social media ban for under-16s.

This should not have been a tick and flick exercise. This is highly controversial legislation, opposed by many experts in the field. It’s also a world-first. Australia hasn’t had the luxury of sitting back and watching how a similar ban has played out in other countries.

There were more than 15,000 submissions made to the Senate committee which was supposed to closely consider the Bill. These were submissions that Australians — academics, kids, parents, those in the tech field, psychologists — were moved to take the time to write.

How many of them were even glanced at? The committee spent just a single morning taking evidence and tabled its report the very next day.

The ban has been popular with many parents who are desperate for a way to keep their kids safe online. They’ve been told this legislation will provide them with that. Let’s hope that it does, and that none of the unintended consequences experts have tried to warn of come to pass.

Most Australians don’t pay close attention to the minutiae of parliamentary process.

They shouldn’t have to. They should be able to trust that those who they’ve elected are doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. Australians have been let down on that this week.

It is deeply concerning that the rush of legislation depended on cutting a deal with the extremist Greens.

The concessions made in exchange for the Greens to wave through the legislation include $500 million to retrofit social housing with energy efficient upgrades, and to rule coal, oil and gas projects out of contention for support through the Future Made in Australia program.

With the prospect of minority government looming next year, it might be just the beginning.