Burke and the Speaker were at odds on whether an amendment could be moved,which led the Coalition’s manager in the chamber,Paul Fletcher,to suggest that Burke would have to move dissent in the Speaker – an incendiary option that would force Dick to quit.
When the Speaker allowed Tehan five minutes to speak on his amendment,Burke found another way to shut down the debate. He moved that the house should adjourn. The opposition leader,Peter Dutton,tried without success to argue the point. Dick put the question to a vote and Tehan had no chance to speak.
Even here,however,Labor did not prevail easily. Nine of the crossbenchers voted with the Coalition against the adjournment. They were Kate Chaney,Zoe Daniel,Andrew Gee,Helen Haines,Dai Le,Rebekha Sharkie,Allegra Spender,Kylea Tink and Andrew Wilkie. Labor won the night by 72 to 56 votes,however,with support from Steggall and the two Greens on the adjournment motion.
It was all over and the bill was made law without debate.
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The laws enable the government to go to the courts to seek to detain some of the people released from indefinite detention after the High Court decision on November 8 and the arrest of some of those people in recent days.
The law enables preventative detention orders,community safety supervision orders,the use of electronic monitoring devices like ankle bracelets and the imposition of curfews.
While Labor got its way,it lost credibility with some of the teal independents for silencing debate. What if Labor needs those teals one day? With a narrow majority now,Labor may have to seek power in a hung parliament after the next election.
And Labor did not look proud of its bill – certainly not proud enough to debate it on Thursday,when more of the media and the public would be watching. Governments that get their way on a big law usually want to hog the limelight and extend the speeches to parliament. Not this one. Deep down,people can see that this law is a reaction to a Coalition challenge,not a demand from Labor’s true believers.
The government has looked passive and defensive too often in the four weeks since the High Court decision on detainees. Even when it goes on the attack,as Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus did on Wednesday byrebuking a journalist in a press conference,it oversteps by getting angry.
No wonder Labor is eager to bring parliament to an end for the year. Some MPs look ready to run for the exits. They have passed their law. Now they want everyone to stop talking about it.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news,views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletterhere.