Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Hansard source

It is my privilege to deal with these bills on behalf of the coalition and in the absence for personal reasons of Senator Birmingham. This is a very truncated debate today. I notice that because of the guillotine by the Labor Party and the Greens, we have already breached standing orders once this morning, Mr Chairman, because the standing order guillotined through by the Greens and the Labor Party showed that debate on these bills was to start no later than 11 am and would conclude at 11.30 am. It did not start until one minute 30 seconds past the hour of 11. It seems in this chamber that if you are the Greens you have one set of rules and if you are the opposition you have a different set of rules.

Yesterday the Senate gave leave to Senator Faulkner to speak about a very gracious lady in Australian history, Mrs Whitlam. That 30 minutes was given by leave of this Senate, but outside of the rules of the guillotine passed by the Greens political party and the Labor Party. Mr Chairman, I know this Senate does not run to any particular system to assist people in their own personal issues, although I suspect with Senator Faulkner and his very strong connection to the Whitlams that perhaps it was personal.

I had an issue last night where I wanted to make a speech while some 80-year-olds were in the gallery to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the crash of an RAAF aircraft at Duntroon, involving my brother, the pilot of that Dakota aircraft, and other crew members. The surviving members were sitting in the gallery last night. Two of them are well over 80 and unlikely to be able to come back into this chamber at any time in the future.

I thank the members of the Labor Party who agreed this morning to allow me to start this session by special leave to give my speech that I was going to deliver last night on the 55th anniversary of the plane crash that took my brother's life and the lives of the relatives of those people sitting in the gallery last night. Of course, when it comes to these sorts of things, we are inflexible. When it comes to Senator Faulkner speaking about Mrs Whitlam—and she was a very gracious lady and a very important person—the rules seem to be allowed. I thank the Labor Party senators for agreeing to allow me to do that.

I put on record my disgust and detesting of the Greens political party for their refusal to allow me this personal indulgence. I give it out and I take it. I have no regard for the Greens.