Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

It was the Hon. Peter Garrett. He had not enrolled for three years. But it is good, because that sort of competency has put him on the front bench of the Australian Labor Party; he is part of the government. Maybe Minister Garrett would be assisted by this. He would not have to worry about the inconvenience of enrolling—the fact that, to become a member of parliament, it helps if you are actually on the electoral roll. Maybe there are some other potential Labor Party frontbenchers who need this legislation; maybe that is where this legislation has appeared from.

On a more serious note, no, we should not be reducing the stringency we have in making sure that all votes are authentic, that there is no question of their authenticity. The only way you can judge what will happen in the future is by looking at how a government has acted in the past. This government has been totally and utterly incompetent, and this is yet another instance of that—just like another issue in Senator McLucas's area, the shutting down of the vast majority of North Queensland fishing areas. What marvellous representation that was, Senator McLucas!