Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak to this procedural motion and to indicate, as Senator Abetz and Senator Fifield did, that the opposition will not be supporting Senator Hanson-Young's motion. As the Manager of Government Business in the Senate stated, the motion merely calls on the Senate to reject the vilification of asylum seekers and refugees. The motion does not explain why it is urgent and why it has to be debated following question time today. As the Manager of Government Business correctly pointed out, there are ample opportunities for Senator Hanson-Young—if she chooses to follow due process as the rest of us on both sides of this chamber have to do—to have her motion debated. However, Senator Hanson-Young—clearly because the Greens vote is dwindling—has decided to pull a stunt in the Senate this afternoon. I am quite sure that, if she is given the opportunity to speak again, she will only highlight that.

The motion that Senator Hanson-Young wants to move calls on this Senate to stop the vilification of refugees and asylum seekers—