Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

This has just been a barrage of non-stop interjections from an embarrassed Leader of the Government in this place, out of control with his legislative agenda, trying to blame us for delaying procedures and then bringing on a motion such as this for no real reason. This is about the opening of the next parliament. Aren’t we resuming in August? What is the urgency of bringing this up on the very last day, in effect, that this Senate will be dealing with legislation?

You have to ask: what was the urgency of bringing it up today? I suggest the urgency is that the government knows that it is very much out of touch with the practical aspirations of the Indigenous people in this country, who wanted and want this parliament to pass the wild rivers legislation. We in fact have lived up to the expectations of the Indigenous people. We have sought to deliver for them in a very practical and real way which will benefit their communities in the Cape York area.

Yet the Labor Party and the Greens deliberately voted yesterday evening to seek to deny the aspirations of the Indigenous people in the Cape York area. They rush in here today to say, ‘Aren’t we really good fellows for you, because we want to have a welcome to country at the beginning of each parliament?’ What will be for the true long-term welfare of the Indigenous people: a welcome to country on each occasion the parliament opens or giving the wild rivers back to the Indigenous people so that they can actually live with their country and get some economic benefit and return from their country?