House debates

Monday, 26 February 2018

Statements by Members

Batman By-Election

1:36 pm

Photo of Terri ButlerTerri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Preventing Family Violence) Share this | | Hansard source

When it comes to the Adani Carmichael mine, the Greens have no actual plan to stop this project. All they have is a cynical two-word slogan that they think will trick voters. The fact is nothing will change with Adani if the Greens win the seat of Batman. There is no reason to think that two members of this House from the Greens party will make any more of an effort or any more of a difference than one member of this House from the Greens party, out of the 150 members of this House. By running a by-election campaign in Batman on the issue of Adani, a project that is so far away from Batman—you wouldn't believe the Greens would be doing this—the Greens are trying to cover up the fact that they have no actual plan for the local area.

Ged Kearney is the only candidate to articulate a real plan for Batman and to have a credible path to actually realising vital community infrastructure, health and environmental projects. Ged Kearney has built a career on getting real, tangible outcomes for the people she represents. The Greens have built a political party based on taking credit for other people's achievements.

This Adani project is such a long way from Melbourne's north. The people of Batman know this, and the Greens know this. The voters of Batman can see through the Greens' cynical campaign in relation to Adani that is clearly based on lies. People are going to see through this campaign, and I very much hope that Ged Kearney will be joining us here in the House of Representatives after the Batman by-election.