26th Nov 2014, 10:04 AM – Representatives Motions - Prime Minister; Attempted Censure - Let motion against ABC cuts be moved

The majority disagreed with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's motion to suspend standing and sessional orders so that he is able to move his motion against the proposed cuts to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). This means that the orders stay in place, blocking Mr Shorten from introducing his motion.

Background to the motion

Before the 2013 federal election, then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott had promised that there would be "no cuts to the ABC or SBS" (see the interview with SBS and ABC's FactCheck analysis for the ABC promise and the SBS promise).

Full motion text

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Maribyrnong from moving the following motion forthwith:

That the House—

(1) notes that:

(a) on Monday 24 November 2014, the Prime Minister stated to the House, "We are applying an efficiency dividend to the ABC" [see ABC News]; and

(b) the next day, the Minister for Communications directly contradicted the Prime Minister's statement in the House by stating on Sky News, "It is not an efficiency dividend" and again, "This is not an efficiency dividend" [see the Guardian]: and

(2) censures the Prime Minister for deliberately misleading:

(a) the parliament;

(b) the Australian people when he promised on the night before the last election that there would be "No cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST, and no cuts to the ABC or SBS" [see that interview]; and

(c) the Australian people when he said, "It is an absolute principle of democracy that governments should not and must not say one thing before an election and do the opposite afterwards".