Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes it was a unanimous report but that is not reflected in the bill that the Liberals, the Nationals, the Greens and Senator Xenophon want to bring into this place. It does not reflect that deal. How dare Senator O'Sullivan try to speak for Labor, how dare he try to put words into our mouths. The Greens and the LNP will not tell you about the grubby little deal that has been done behind closed doors, and that deal does not reflect the hard work that Labor put in, yes, to get a consensus report because we do believe in electoral reform. So let us get the truth out there.

Earlier today I heard Senator Reynolds say that this will get rid of grubby little deals. I do not know where she has been but what was done between the Greens and Senator Xenophon and the LNP was a grubby little deal—it was a grubby little deal and there is no getting away from that. Obviously the Greens have just rolled over—we have seen their inept negotiation before in this place when they have done other grubby little deals with the LNP. They come in here with a matter of public importance about electoral reform when presumably they had the government there, the government needed their agreement to get this grubby electoral reform through, and they did not even raise the issue—or, if they did raise it, they were such poor negotiators that they were not able to get electoral reform through in relation to political donations. Yet they come in here and try to imagine they are pure.

What about the Clean Energy Finance Corporation that they say they stand for? The LNP have told us over and over again—maybe the Greens were not listening but the LNP have made it crystal clear to Labor—that the Clean Energy Finance Corporation is something they want to get rid of. In fact, they confirmed that not so long ago in answer to questions we asked them. It is still their intention to get rid of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. What about the workers that the Greens pretend to be representing? The government has made it clear it wants the registered organisations bill through and the government has also made it very clear—they made it clear this morning in the media—that the re-establishment of the ABCC is absolutely on their agenda. That is the grubby deal the Greens have done. If they go to a double dissolution, which Mr Green confirmed this morning would give the LNP an advantage—you should read the transcript—then we will see antiworker legislation introduced in this place courtesy of the Greens. We will see antiunion legislation introduced into this place courtesy of the Greens. We already have the LNP's appalling record on our environmental future, and we will see the clean energy corporation, which has done such an amazing job, dissolved. Who will bear the responsibility for that? The Greens will.

Really, the Greens are no longer even a party of policy—they are a party of grubby deals. That is what they have done here today. I have heard some of the Greens in here today and some LNP senators standing here and saying that this is not a grubby deal. That is nonsense. We had experts this morning in the committee hearing who said that if there were a double dissolution it would advantage the government—plain and simple; it is there in the transcript for anyone to see. That is the truth of it. And that is what the government want to do—they want to pull the trigger. They have had years to undertake electoral reform. They are the government, no matter how much they want to point the finger at Labor—we did this, we did that, George Williams said this, Gary Gray, the member for Brand, said something else. Actually, they are the government, they are in charge and they could have at any time put forward an electoral reform bill to be considered in line with the majority report that Labor worked hard to get to. But, no, they did not because that would not have given them the outcome they want. That would not give them the opportunity in a double dissolution election, as Mr Green said this morning, to actually get control.

As Senator Conroy has pointed out, so inept are the Greens at negotiation that it disadvantages them. They seem to have missed that point entirely, but to stand in here and try to make this somehow Labor's responsibility is nonsense. The responsibility for this grubby deal rests very clearly with the Greens, the LNP government and Senator Xenophon.

No wonder the crossbench senators are very angry about this. Yes, we need a fair system which represents everybody, but this system that is being put forward by the government—whenever they get it through this place with the support of the Greens—is not a fair system. Certainly the experts confirmed that today. In fact, one of them says he believes it will be the subject of a High Court challenge. That is where the government and the Greens are leading us. They are leading us down this clumsy road where there is no certainty. So badly and so quickly has the bill been drafted that they left out some pretty important provisions that had to be slipped into the House through amendments concerning counting votes. How could you forget that? Again, it shows the ineptness of the Greens when it comes to negotiation and the double ineptness of the LNP government. That is a little amendment that was slipped in. If it gets through this place, this bill, seemingly, is headed for the High Court. What a mess. It is not enough that the LNP are the worst government we have ever seen—they cannot manage anything and they are well and truly after workers and ordinary working Australians—they are also going to mess up an electoral system that has been there for 30 years. Yes, of course Labor would welcome the opportunity to look at change, but not change that is rushed through in a dirty deal. That is not what Labor is about.

It was a very rushed committee hearing this morning. I watched it. People were given only a few minutes to ask questions. I am sure that it was stacked with people who were there just to waste time. If you were dinkum about it, there would be a proper inquiry and a proper opportunity, and you would explain to the Australian people what the change represents. Most Australians have trouble understanding the Senate, and you are going to make that worse by rushing this bill through. It is a tricky system. There should have been open hearings so that Australians could come, look, ask questions and listen. It is already a difficult system that needs time and explanation. What you are doing now is just rushing it through with a hearing that went for a couple of hours where you brought experts to Canberra, asked them a few questions and sent them on their way. Now you, the Greens and Senator Xenophon will stand in here and say, 'Well, we had a hearing. There was an opportunity for the public to be involved.' What nonsense.

You do not stand for proper electoral reform. You do not stand for Australian voters. You do not stand for democracy. You just stand for grubby deals done behind closed doors. Worse than that—the Greens cannot even protect things that they purport to hold near and dear. They finally have been exposed. They are about power. They want to be the only minority party in this place. They want their minority view to be the only view that gets aired. That is the deal they have done. They will stand judged on that. In fact, polls are already showing that their membership are not happy with them—and why would they be when the Greens have done a grubby deal with the LNP government?