James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Cyber Security) | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy President. Through you, Senator Steele-John should know that the Australian War Memorial is not a blank canvas for the Greens' extreme politics. It is a place we should all respect; it is a place we should all uphold. It is extraordinary that any elected member of this place would come in here and defend the defacing and the desecration of these monuments, and he should be ashamed of that. All of the Greens should be ashamed for defending that. All of the Greens should go and see our veterans and our men and women in uniform and justify why this one place that should be beyond politics, that should be sacred, that shouldn't be desecrated is an appropriate place for them to broadcast their moral superiority, their self-satisfaction and their pride in weaponising these issues for political gain. They should be ashamed. They have an opportunity to rectify this. They have an opportunity to make up for the appalling remarks that Senator Steele-John made before. They have an opportunity to vote with the rest of the Senate in favour of Senator Lambie's motion and stand up for the good values of this country.