Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

It's a sad day when the Leader of the Labor Party comes to the dispatch box and basically says he doesn't trust the Australian people to have their say on an important social issue. He comes to the dispatch box after saying himself, in 2013, 'I'm completely relaxed about having some form of plebiscite'—the Australian people making their view known. The Leader of the Labor Party, who used to believe in giving the Australian people a chance to have their say, is now cynically trying to divide Australians with his tactics in this place, and this MPI today says a lot about the hypocrisy and the double standards of this Leader of the Opposition. He doesn't trust Australians to have their say. He will sink to any low and throw away any previously held view to secure some sort of political advantage. He would rather try to win a debate in this place than deliver a social change that he claims to support. He had six years in government to deliver this reform, and he failed miserably. He is a complete phoney when he stands here with his confected outrage, instead of engaging in this process and supporting the Australian people in their chance to have a free vote. Now, Mr Deputy Speaker—

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