Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was listening to Senator Wright, and I find it a remarkable contribution to say that somehow the issues surrounding the Australian Wheat Board and the oil-for-food scandal were not properly investigated. There were numerous inquiries. There was a royal commission into that particular scandal, and that royal commission actually recommended that 12 people should be subject to criminal proceedings. Those criminal charges did not end up being laid, but I am not exactly sure what Senator Wright is suggesting. It seems to me she is suggesting that somehow we should be double-guessing and questioning the judgement of the various directors of public prosecutions in our state and federal jurisdictions—because they are the ones who decide whether to proceed with criminal charges. I do not believe that it should be up to us as politicians or members of the executive government. I do not believe that Senator Wright actually would agree with this position—for us to direct DPPs to lay particular criminal charges. It is a ridiculous suggestion from Senator Wright that somehow the executive government should be held accountable for the DPP not proceeding with criminal charges. I do not know the specifics of the case, but I do have some trust and confidence in the various law enforcement agencies in our country and their record of integrity and independence. In our system it is up to their judgement on whether criminal proceedings should proceed, and obviously in this instance they did not decide that.

There was a lack of detailed argument from Senator Wright for the establishment of such a serious body here in Australia and a lack of any examples of corrupt behaviour—none in her speech. I listened to most of it. It was all about innuendo, potentially people doing this and that in dark rooms, but gave no actual example of corruption. They want to establish a whole new body in our Commonwealth jurisdiction, despite the fact there are already bodies that look at this. It indicates to me that this is just another stunt from the Greens. It is another stunt from the Greens to put on this piece of legislation. They know it is not going to get passed; it is another stunt for them to gain some kind of media attention. They are becoming the masters of stunts in this chamber. They are the 'Captain Risky' of this chamber. Those ads that are running at the moment are quite humorous. I cannot remember the insurance company they are promoting, and I probably should not say it in the chamber to promote them. They are the 'Captain Risky' of Australian politics right now. They are just doing stunts all the time for no particular purpose and no actual gain for our country or the people who live here. It is simply about getting exposure for themselves and their own political purposes. That is not how I think this chamber should be run, and I do not think that is how we should bring things into this chamber.

I also want to make the point that I do not think the Greens are having a conscience vote on this bill that they have brought forward. I do not think they are giving their members a conscience vote on this bill. That is another bill that the Greens will not be having a conscience vote on. They want to say that all other political parties should have conscience votes on things, but they do not apply that principle to themselves. The other day Senator Di Natale came into this place and argued that we should ban sniffer dogs, that we should get rid of sniffer dogs. According to the Greens, sniffer dogs are apparently a great threat to the personal liberty of people in this country. I do not think they are having a conscience vote on that position either. I do not think the Greens are having a conscience vote on sniffer dogs. I reckon there might be some Green senators who actually support sniffer dogs. I think there might be some more reasonable Green senators. Senator Ludlam might support sniffer dogs. I think Senator Whish-Wilson is quite reasonable. He would probably support sniffer dogs. But the Greens do not have a conscience vote on that position either. It is all Stalinist democratic socialism for the Greens all day every day.