Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the minister's response as well, but I want to discuss more the concerns I have leading up to the government acceding to the Senate's request. I also make note of Senator Patrick's comment then that debates are better if informed. That's where I want to go to. Senator Birmingham said earlier on today, 'The government is doing the legwork.' If that's the truth, why don't they show it? Why have we gone through this charade for the government to capitulate anyway? Then the government argued, through Senator Birmingham, that they won't do it because Labor won't do it. That's got nothing to do with the issue at all. Our record is 10 consecutive quarters of year-on-year CPI reductions in retail power. The Labor Party's record is not only a carbon tax and not only a mining tax but also 23 consecutive quarters of year-on-year increases in household electricity costs, and they have the hide to come in here and lecture us. Well, the Australian people can see straight through that. They understand that this is the same old Labor Party, because recently we've seen the Labor Party put their dirty little secret out there into the public. Asked on Sunday by David Speers, Senator Gallagher said, 'We are looking at everything.' That was in response to a direct question as to whether or not a carbon tax—