Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Wong, for letting me speak. I appreciate that. Just a couple of things about the contribution we have just heard from Senator Wong: no-one for a moment could suggest that the issue of marriage equality has not received due consideration in this parliament and more broadly. It is an issue that has dominated the national debate for many, many months. It is an issue where I think the opinions of all sides of politics are well known, and we have an opportunity to bring this on for a vote on Thursday. This will be simply a question for the Labor Party. The question is a simple one: does the Labor Party have enough support for marriage equality within its own ranks to carry that vote, or has this whole exercise been simply a cynical tactic on an issue that is far more important and deserves a much more thorough debate?

We now have a debate on marriage equality this week, and I have to say I acknowledge and thank the Australian Labor Party for supporting our motion to bring that on. It is terrific when we get cooperative politics in this place. So we now have an opportunity to debate a longstanding Greens position through a bill in the name of Senator Hanson-Young that would effectively ensure that discrimination in marriage is ended once and for all. Whether that comes on for a vote is simply a question for the Australian Labor Party. We will be doing our best to ensure that that legislation comes on for a vote. To hide behind the idea that it simply is an issue that has not received the sort of debate that it requires before it is voted on is again an example of the Labor Party not treating this issue with, I think, the seriousness that it deserves.

I just have a few points about the voting record of the Greens on important pieces of legislation. When it comes to locking up young children in detention centres, it is, indeed, the Labor Party that sits with Cory Bernardi and Eric Abetz.