Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Following Senator Boswell and Senator Macdonald is always good fun. Responding to the claptrap that goes on in relation to their position, when they try to argue points that have no scientific basis, no basis in fact, is always pretty easy. Senator Macdonald talks about realism and truth. I have not heard that from the coalition since I have been in this place. They are not realistic about what is happening to the climate. They are not realistic about what is happening to our oceans. They are not realistic about the need to take steps to protect our ocean, the same way as we protect our forests and our biodiversity. There is no absolutely no realism from the coalition. And, when it comes to truth, I think the truth and you guys are big strangers. The extremists in the coalition have got control, and the extremists in the coalition are arguing that there is no climate change, that we should just ignore what is happening, ignore what the scientists tell us and not worry if the scientific community around the world says there is grave danger from global warming and climate change. The coalition just ignore it and they go for the bottom line—low shots and no long-term vision for this country, absolutely none.

So do not come here talking to us about realism and truth, saying that the Pew foundation and Greenpeace are going to close down Australia. Give us a break! How about getting some of the realism that you talk about into the claptrap that comes from you lot over there? The Sun Oil Company set up the Pew foundation—not exactly the Red Guard. The Sun Oil Company took the view that they had to protect the environment. What do they say? They say that they actually base their analysis on facts, not like the coalition, as we have seen from Senator Boswell and Senator Macdonald. You run fear campaigns on every issue. If there is an issue or a policy, out comes the coalition fear campaign. There is a fear campaign on the pricing of carbon. Who cares about what this is going to do to future generations? Just run the fear campaign, run the opposition position, run the big no. On refugees, again the fear campaign comes out of the back pocket. Simply fear is what the coalition run on. On the economy, out comes the fear campaign. We have got the most robust economy in the world, and yet they run a fear campaign. I always like reminding the coalition about Sir Robert Menzies and what he said on 24 July 1942. He was talking about his liberal creed, something I do not think too many across there know much about. I know that there are some who think they are experts on the history of the coalition. On 24 July 1942, Robert Menzies said:

Nothing could be worse for democracy than to adopt the practice of permitting knowledge to be overthrown by ignorance.

We have seen an example of ignorance trying to overthrow knowledge from Senator Macdonald, although he is in the LNP, but I am not sure what that means—whether he is in the Liberal Party or not. He has been showing ignorance. Senator Boswell—ignorance in terms of the facts. Sir Robert Menzies went on to say:

Fear can never be a proper or useful ingredient in those mutual relations of respect and good-will which ought to exist between the elector and the elected.

You are the elected and you use fear continually to drive an ideological position in support of the rich and powerful in this country. He went on to say:

And so, as we think about it we shall find more and more how disfiguring a thing fear is in our own political and social life.

It is pretty disfiguring when you watch it in action from the coalition. Do not worry about the scientists and do not worry about the facts, just go with the fear campaign. He further went on to say:

It is the fear of knowledge which prevents so many of us from really using our minds, and which makes so many of us ready slaves to cheap and silly slogans and catch-cries.

We heard the cheap and silly slogans from Senator Boswell and Senator Macdonald. We heard the catchcries from Senator Boswell and Senator Macdonald, and they were pretty silly and pretty cheap. They were just not substantive at all. Menzies also said:

In brief, Australian Liberalism must present itself as the party of action, and the party of the future. We are not the ANTI party, but the PRO party.

Tell that to your leader. Tell that to the people who are in there saying no on every issue. Tell that to the people who are out there on the fear campaigns. I can tell you someone who has actually picked up a bit of that creed—