Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Might I say what a pleasant night this is to give my first grievance debate speech in my time in politics, 15 years. So you are present for a moment in history. Today, with some of my colleagues on the other side, we have been successful in making sure that we maintain two seats in the Northern Territory. It was quite clear that National Party senators—being Senators Canavan, Bridget McKenzie, Perin Davey, Sam McMahon and Susan McDonald—were not going to be seen as part of a process of removing a regional seat from Australia. Then it was about what would happen when it came to the House of Representatives, where I said quite clearly that I would not be part of that either and that I would be voting to make sure that we maintain those seats, even though they are Labor Party seats. That should be irrelevant in representing regional—

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