Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Just because you did not act in a dignified way does not mean that the parliament did not have dignity. When we unpack democracy we could look at what the nominated members have done. Let us have a look at whether the member for Mackellar followed that great Liberal tradition of looking at the policy and crossing the floor, and we will see whether she is prepared to be bipartisan. I have been in only two parliaments and I have seen only two MPs in this chamber cross the floor on a topic. I think the member for McMillan did it over asylum seekers, and he was rewarded by being totally overlooked. We had the member for Wentworth cross the floor over the ETS, and he was rewarded by being placed on the cover of the Real Solutions brochure. In the other place I saw Senator Sue Boyce cross the floor the day after the member for Warringah was made leader, and she was rewarded by being overlooked and then by being booted out of parliament. I know the member for New England has crossed the floor, and I look forward to seeing how he goes when it comes to voting on GrainCorp. I am sure he will talk tough and walk soft.

Let us look at how the member for Mackellar and the member for McEwen have treated democracy. The best way to analyse it is by looking at how they have voted on legislation that brings votes to the Australian people. Let us look at the 2010 election review, when we tried to get 1.5 million people back onto the electoral roll, and the dissenting report from the member for Mackellar.

I am sorry to say, Member for McEwen, that maybe we should support the member for Mackellar for the sake of the sisterhood rather than you. You have a Y chromosome and she does not. There is a saying that the head slave whips the hardest. Let us have a look at how the member for Mackellar has treated the sisterhood when given the opportunity. When she stood out the front of this place in front of a poster saying, 'Ditch the witch,' or a poster saying, 'Juliar … Bob Brown's bitch,' what did she do? Did she apologise for that? No, she never apologised for that. She actually said that the people who had those signs were good, decent Australians.

Honourable members interjecting—

These are the facts. We are about to make a decision about democracy in this place. I think very seriously about these decisions. Obviously, it is an important role and it is good to have a bit of humour. In the last six years I have seen the member for Mackellar make two good jokes. She made a joke about the size of Julia Gillard's nose. Then she made a joke about the clothes that Julia Gillard wore. The jokes were quite funny, but the humour of someone in the chair needs to have a touch of self-deprecation. I think the member for Mackellar has deprecation down pat. The reality is that we should choose the member for McEwen for the sake of democracy in this chamber.

The Clerk : Does the member for McEwen accept the nomination?

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