Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

No, they are not. Articles that they have written in Australia's leading broadsheets make reference to senior government ministers and members talking to them about a 2 July, or maybe 9 or 16 July, double-D election. That is all on the public record. Senator Cormann, you may say or imply they are lying or you may say or imply that they do not have real sources, but that is a matter for you. It is a view you are entitled to have. That is not my view. When I read these things I will understandably come to a conclusion. Yet there is this sudden coincidence of 1 July. No, a conservative build-up in this chamber is a bad outcome for progressive Australia.

I understand the government's position here. This is good for the government. It is good for the conservative side of politics. It is a political fix that the government is surely going to embrace. I am not surprised by that. I am not shocked by that. I would not expect the government to behave any differently. The government is behaving in its own interests and it can do that. But it is the fact that this pretence, this farce, is presented about it being about other things. It is not. It is about a pesky set of crossbench senators the government is very keen to see removed, because they felt they should have passed elements of the last budget but they did not. That is what has got us here.

When we are looking at these amendments and dealing with them, we have to keep in mind the process that got us here. We have to understand that the way in which this entire thing has been rushed has actually created problems and will continue to create problems. In the past couple of days, I think there has been an incredible job by a lot of the media in exposing some of these flaws. We have heard quotes—and I do not need to quote them, because they have already been quoted by other Senators—from journalists, academics and others who have come out with some very strong views. They were people like Ross Gittins and others. I know that Senator Penny Wong actually quoted some of them and I do not need to put them on the record. I do also note, though, that while we are having this debate—and I think it is unfortunate that we are having this debate in the middle of the night—the coverage of it will of course—

Honourable senators interjecting—

No, no! We just moved a motion moments ago that you voted against. I am not going to be lectured to by you. I will not be shushed. You may try and silence me but you are not going to lecture me.

The coverage of this will be somewhat limited because we have a situation where a lot of Fairfax journalists, through what I agree is some really outrageous behaviour by the management of Fairfax, have chosen to go on strike. I do want to say I respect them and respect their right to take industrial action. I think that is a move that they are entitled to make. I will always respect the rights of people engaging in that. It must be an incredibly difficult time for a lot of the journalists and a lot of the people who have been following this story, covering this story and participating in this debate. It is unfortunate that as we reach this point they will not be able to participate in this debate, but it must be horrible to show up at work and be told about the types of cuts that are going to be faced by some of the largest and most important newsrooms in this country. Our thoughts need to go out to the families who will have to grapple with those issues in the coming weeks.