Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I am indebted to my colleague for making a contribution on this matter. Let us understand what is occurring here. Although I think he might have said some unwise things—because very few people get Senator Moore angry, and you got Senator Moore angry, because she cares about this issue—I do have some regard for Senator Simms and his position on this issue and his advocacy for the community. But what he is doing today is attempting by this motion to recover some moral authority from the position he and his party took this morning.

Let us understand what happened this morning. The Greens have agreed to an hour's motion, which has a list of bills which have to be resolved prior to the Senate going home. Of course, the most important amongst those from the government's and the Greens' perspective is the changes to Senate voting—the largest changes in 30 years that they want to push through the Senate without a proper inquiry; leaving that aside.