Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am being baited and challenged. We all remember Senator George Campbell. He came down here breathing fire and brimstone—he was going to do everything. But he was not tough enough, as Senator Barnaby Joyce has said; he went soft. So they sent Senator Doug Cameron down, and wasn’t he going to play merry hell! Wasn’t he going to stir the Senate up! Wasn’t he going to come in here and protect the car workers! Well, he has been like a damp squib. He has not even raised his voice. I say to Senator Doug Cameron: the Senate will find you out. You cannot run; you cannot hide. In the end, the Senate finds you out—and it has not taken very long for the Senate to find Senator Doug Cameron out. I do not know whether he said anything in caucus; I do not know whether he stood up for the car industry, but he certainly has not stood up in this public place. He has been like a damp squib.

As Senator Joyce pointed out, Senator Cameron is on the Left. The Left do not get much of a say—they get a bit of a bone thrown at them on social issues, to do a bit of social engineering here and there. But the Right have command of all of the big issues. Senator Doug Cameron ought to think about either changing his faction or standing up in the Senate.

I cannot understand this. To me it is just a no-brainer. The government made a decision 10 or 12 years ago—probably 13 years ago—that four-wheel drives were essential for members of parliament. Every member of parliament with a big electorate drives one, because he has to, whether he be Labor, National Party or Liberal. So, if it is good enough for members of parliament, why isn’t it good enough for every other citizen? If we say members of parliament have to have four-wheel drives because it is dangerous without one and people are being killed, what is the difference? Why should we be a different class than the rest of the people who live out in rural and regional Australia?

If Senator Brown can explain to me why the Audis and the big end of town—the $300,000 cars—should have a reduced amount of sales tax and the workhorses should get pinged, I would be very interested to hear about it. I am sure the people in rural and regional Australia—and there are a few of them who vote out there; a few misguided teachers and so forth—